Parental Consent
by adcgordon
Summary: Troy & Gabriella's parents play a huge role in their lives. What do they think when T & G get together and what role do Maria, Jack and Lucille play in their journey? Rated T for safety, potentially in later chapters.
1. Meet The Parents

**Well, my friends, this is my first journey into a Troyella story! If you've read any of my other stories you know I'm a Zanessa fan. (Keep the Zanessa love flowing! :) ) But I haven't ventured into this area. I like having the parents involved in my stories. That's where this one comes from. We know what happened with the kids in HSM, but what did their parents witness along the journey? **

**I own nothing HSM related other than DVD's, CD's, books, magazines and trinkets. I own nothing related to the characters, actors who portrayed them, or the awesome production crew who brought this generation-changing phenomena into our lives. Hope you enjoy reading, and that you'll review. Your reviews & PM's just feed my addiction! -adc**

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Maria Montez was devoted to her daughter. Gabriella was the name that she and her husband Manuel had chosen to give their baby girl. It was the female form of Gabriel, an angel of the Lord. And as they began raising their baby girl together they felt God's strength around them.

But when Manuel was killed in a plane crash, Maria and Gabriella's world crashed too. Gabriella was eleven, a vulnerable age for a young girl. For six months after his death Maria and Gabriella clung to each other and shut out the rest of the world.

On Gabriella's twelfth birthday her mother swore the young lady was channeling her father. Gabriella climbed out of bed that morning and entered her mother's bedroom. She sat on the side of Maria's bed and took her mother's hand in hers. "Mama, it's time we move on." She looked at her mother very seriously with no tears in her eyes.

Maria was a professional woman. Her law degree coupled with her Hispanic background offered her a world of possibilities. But, in the area of business mediation it meant that she would be forced to move quite often. She had given up that mobile profession when Gabriella had started school. Now, as she watched her daughter's expressions, she knew it was time to enter it again.

"Briella" Maria mirrored the girl's serious face. "To move forward I have to work again. That means much time for you alone at home and we will be moving almost constantly. I can't promise you stability. I can't promise you lasting friendships. I can't even promise you that I'll be home for dinner each night."

Gabriella watched her mother's face turn away from her with the revelations of what the career would do to their life. "Mama, it's what you are good at. Daddy knew that and he was proud of you. He is proud of you. But he doesn't want either of us to just sit around and dwell on the fact that he's gone. He will always be in our hearts. But it's time for us to move on."

The next few years were very hard on Gabriella and Maria. It didn't take Mrs. Montez long to re-connect with her career. She didn't want to be on the very top rung of the ladder because she still needed time with her daughter. That kept them from finding a solid home. It forced them to move every year, sometimes more than once a year, until Gabriella was 16.

The moves never hurt Gabriella. She was always able to drown herself in her schoolwork, and she purposefully held back from making good friends. She had many acquaintances, especially those on the scholastic teams that she joined. But she never considered any of them real friends.

So she was quite surprised when her mother informed her that the move to Albuquerque, New Mexico would be one where she could make friends. They would be staying here until Gabriella finished high school and made her way to Stanford University. Standing in the center of the East High School hallways Gabriella had never been more terrified. It had been years since she attempted to make friends. She wasn't sure if she remembered how.

Maria encouraged her daughter to climb the steps and make her way to the new homeroom class. Gabriella turned, nearly begging her mother to change her mind about this particular move. Instead Maria smiled and urged her daughter to go. Something inside Maria knew this move held potential. Not just for her career, but also for her daughter's future.

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When Gabriella arrived home that afternoon her mother noticed something different about her already. The beautiful young woman made her way into the kitchen of their new house with a dreamy look in her eyes. It took Maria just a few moments to recognize that look. It was the same one she, herself, had worn when she first met Manuel. Her daughter had a crush.

"Briella," Her mother touched her arm to make sure she had her daughter's attention. "What's his name?"

Suddenly Gabriella blushed and the dreamy look snapped from her eyes. "What? What's whose name?"

Her mother smiled at her. "The boy that you have a crush on. You've only been at the school one day. Do you know his name?"

Gabriella swallowed hard and looked at her mother. They had vowed long ago never to lie to one another. She couldn't start now. The teenager laughed under her breath just once and looked back at her mom. "You're not going to believe this Mama."

Maria smiled. "Try me Mija."

"Remember the boy I told you about on New Year's Day, at the lodge in Colorado? The one that I was forced to sing karaoke with at that teen party on New Year's Eve?" Gabriella stared at her hands that were placed in front of her on the kitchen counter.

Maria nodded curiously. "Was that Todd, or Thomas?" her voice trailed off before Gabriella interrupted her.

"Troy. Mama. His name was Troy." Gabriella showed her mother a shy smile.

"Troy, that's right. Now I remember." Maria smiled gently back at her blushing daughter.

"He goes to this school Mom. He lives here in Albuquerque and goes to this very school!" Gabriella tried to mask her excitement but her mother could see right through it.

"Did he recognize you?" Maria asked curiously. If this wasn't fate for her daughter then she was unsure of the true meaning of the word.

Gabriella nodded. "We, um, both got in trouble during homeroom for having our cell phones out." She watched as Maria's curious face became worried. "He still had my number and picture in his phone, so he dialed the number to see if it was actually me. My phone rang. And we got detention along with half the class who pulled out their cell phones when mine rang."

Maria noticed the somewhat pained look on her daughter's face. She let Gabriella's story run through her mind a couple of times. There were so many parts of it that just didn't sound like her daughter. Maria was having a very hard time comprehending.

"So you're telling me…" the mother finally started, "that on your first day at a new school – where I've arranged for you to spend the next eighteen months of your life – you met a boy that you like…you had your cell phone ON in that school…said boy called you on that phone…and you had to spend time in detention?"

Maria stopped there and watched as Gabriella nodded and chewed on her bottom lip. "Who are you and where is my Briella?" Maria asked jokingly. Gabriella shrugged her shoulders.

She had _never_ been in trouble at school. She was adamant about turning off the cell phone that held only her mother's number, her grandparents' numbers and since New Year's Eve, the number of a boy named Troy. It was a lot for Gabriella to take in as well.

"Does he like you too?" Maria continued the conversation.

Gabriella blushed again. She shook her head. This was something else she had stayed away from during her teen years. Boyfriends, crushes, even calling a boy 'cute' out loud were thoughts that rarely entered her mind. And she had _never_ admitted to her mother that a boy may have liked her. Never.

"I, I think maybe he will be a friend." Gabriella answered her mom. "I don't know anything about him, other than he has a really nice voice and seems to be nice. But I get the feeling he's pretty popular. He's on the basketball team."

"An athlete too. Wow." Maria added as she watched her daughter. She smiled softly as she watched the dreamy haze form again in Gabriella's eyes.

Maria believed in 'love at first sight'. She had glimpsed it in Gabi's eyes on New Year's Day when the teen had admitted to her that she met someone at the party the previous night. And now that same boy was somehow here in this town. Her heart danced at the thought of that potential love for her little girl. Yes, this had to be fate.

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Within that first week in Albuquerque Maria noticed a few different items in Gabi's school bag. Besides the normal textbooks, there was information about the scholastic decathlon, a flyer stating something about auditions for a play, and most surprising, a musical score.

She didn't want to press her daughter. They continued to have dinner together and Gabriella continued to talk to her mother about school and classes. She mentioned a girl named Taylor nearly begging her to be on the scholastic team. Somehow Taylor had learned of Gabriella's penchant for science and math. Now Taylor was determined to have Gabriella on their team. Gabi insisted to her mother, and to Taylor, that it was far too soon for her to consider that.

Maria nodded as Gabriella told her the story of Taylor practically begging her to be on the team. The plea had come during detention that day while working on sets for the school musicale. Maria stopped Gabriella's story, mid-sentence, with a question. "Was this the detention for the cell phone issue?"

Gabriella's eyes grew wide. Her breath slowed as she calmly tried to figure out what to say to her mother. Three days. She had been at this school three days. Two out of those three days she had gotten detention, courtesy of Troy.

"Briella? Are you going to answer me?" It was a tone Maria had not used with her daughter in years. Not since they day they vowed never to lie to each other.

Still Gabriella sat silently. She glanced at her hands. Those same hands had held Troy's today as they talked on the rooftop of the school. His hands had grabbed hers and quickly tried to lead her to class when the warning bell rang. And his hand had squeezed hers when he left her at the classroom door, knowing they were both late. _'Sorry,' _Troy had said as he left her in the hallway. _'Guess I'll see you in detention again.'_ They had both laughed.

"Brie?" Maria's tone was more forceful now.

"No, Mom. This was a different detention. I was late for class. I got turned around in the halls and went to the wrong room. By the time I found the right one, I was late." Well, it was at least half true. After the 'late for class' part of the fib, Gabriella looked away from her mother.

Maria leaned her head back knowing her daughter was lying. She reached out and touched her daughter's face, bringing it around to look at her own. When she again met Gabriella's eyes she spoke. "You haven't lied to me since before your father died. Briella, don't start now."

Gabi took a deep breath. "Troy was showing me where he went at the school for some privacy." She started. Gabriella decided to change her wording when she saw her mother's raised eyebrows. "…when he needs to think about things. The Garden Club has this amazing area on the rooftop. It's beautiful, and he likes to go there just to get away from all the craziness during his free period sometimes."

Maria nodded. "Continue."

"We, um, well, Monday, we sat and listened to some of the auditions for the school's musical. I'm not sure what came over me Mama, but I told the drama teacher that I wanted to audition."

Maria's eyes now grew wide. "For a musical? Gabriella, you've never mentioned being interested in singing or dancing before. The church choir…you fainted just from a solo at church."

Gabriella nodded. "I know. That's what I told Troy on New Year's Eve." She said excitedly. "I don't know why, but when she asked if anyone else wanted to try out I sat there. We snuck out the back of the auditorium. Then something pulled me back in and this voice inside me just spoke up and told her I wanted to audition."

Maria sat, mildly in awe. Her daughter was quite shy. Put her in an academic situation, with math problems and science formulas in front of her and Gabriella excelled. But drama and theatrical performances were not her forté.

She watched as Gabriella smiled and continued the story. "Mrs. Darbus told me I was too late and that the only auditions still open were for the pairs anyway, so I was out of luck. Then Troy stepped in and said he would sing with me."

Maria's awe turned to shock and then the strings in her heart felt a familiar tugging. That 'love at first sight' line came into her head again. "So the two of you auditioned together?"

Gabriella sighed. "Not exactly. Ms. Darbus told us we were still too late to audition and then walked out. The pianist was still up on the stage and she tripped and dropped all her music. We went to the stage to check on her and _Troy_ helped her get up and helped pick her music up."

There it was again, Maria thought. The dreamy look in her daughter's eyes. And the way his name floated off her tongue just gave her heart a jolt. She wondered if Gabriella had any clue what was happening in her life at the moment.

"The pianist is also the composer of the show. And the music is amazing, Mom. You would not believe what this girl can do. So when she got up she laid out this music on the piano and started playing it for me and Troy. We stood there and sang it while she was playing. Apparently the drama teacher was still within ear- shot because after we sang she came in and told us we had a callback for the auditions. Troy and I were both just stunned." Gabriella admitted.

Maria was stunned as well. "Are you going to try out? Really? And what does this have to do with getting detention? Briella, don't try to throw me off subject, you know we'll get back to it eventually."

"I'm getting there Mama, I'm getting there. So that was Monday. Yesterday was pretty normal, I guess. Today Troy put a note in my locker asking me to come meet him on the rooftop during lunch. So I went." Gabriella's voice sounded quite shy as she realized what she was saying.

"We just sat on a bench up there and talked for a few minutes. I asked Troy if he really wanted to do the callbacks and he said he does." She stopped there for a minute just letting things sink in. Maria's voice called her back to reality.

"Where does detention fit into this?" Her mother asked.

"We were talking longer than I thought. The bell rang for class to start and we were still up on the roof. We both got detention for being late to class." Gabriella pouted at the fact.

Maria smiled and laughed at herself silently. She was certainly relieved at this reason for her daughter getting in trouble. Maria's mind had already wandered to some sort of scenario that included her daughter kissing this Troy fellow and getting caught in a public display of affection.

"Are you mad?" Gabriella now had to bring her mother back to reality.

"No, Sweetheart." Maria answered honestly. "But I'm wondering if it's time for me to meet this boy who keeps getting you into detention. If he already has this hold over you then he and I need to have a strong chat about the future."

"Mom!" Gabriella blushed. Then her voice softened again and she smiled at her mother. "I have a feeling you will meet him…sometime soon."

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On this particular Wednesday evening Troy had come straight from basketball practice to the half court that made up the majority of his family's back yard. His dad was angry with him and Troy knew he couldn't avoid Jack Bolton's wrath for long. He hoped a strong workout at home, coupled with the hour of free throws he had done at school would ease the elder Bolton's temper.

When Jack Bolton appeared at the back door of their home Troy was lost in a number of thoughts. The sweat was dripping from him as he ran up and down the court taking shots at the hoop from every angle. Jack watched for a minute until his wife, Troy's mom, Lucille placed her soft hand on Jack's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Lucille asked. She knew her husband was mad and Troy hadn't even come inside the house when he finally did return from school.

"Troy got detention again today. That's twice in the last three days." Jack huffed.

"Is it pressure from the championships? Are the guys putting extra pressure on him?" Lucille's concern was for her son's well-being.

"No." Jack stopped and looked at her. "It's a girl."

Lucille's eyes widened and a hint of a smile formed on her face. "Really?"

Jack's look did not mirror his wife's. He was less than enthused to think that his basketball-captain son had found a romantic interest two weeks prior to the championship game. "Please don't encourage him right now." He pouted.

Lucille dropped her smile to give her husband a 'what do you know?' kind of look. "Did you ever think that maybe this is what he needs right now Jack? Maybe if he can get his mind on something other than basketball for even a few minutes then he can relax and play better."

"I'm afraid he's going to relax too much. Or, he's gonna get so much other 'pressure' built up that everything will explode on him and us." Jack turned to his wife and raised his eyebrows.

"Jack, Troy's been interested in girls before. He's a responsible kid. You're going to have to trust him." Lucille rubbed a gentle hand down her husband's back. "Who is she anyway?" Lucille smiled again.

"Luce…" Jack whined. "You're not going to get involved right now and push this issue, are you? Can't I just try to get him through next week's game and then we can all sit and have a nice talk about our son's love-life."

"Ah, now I see the problem." Lucille nodded. "You don't know the girl do you? You don't even know her name and it's absolutely killing you." She grinned as her husband scrunched his eyebrows and glared at her.

"I do so know her name. It's Grace or Genelle or Gaston…or something with a G, I know." Jack stated.

The basketball dribbling halted on the court drawing the parents' attention to their son. Troy looked at his dad pointedly. "It's Gabriella. And you were formally introduced this afternoon, if you had cared to listen."

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Let me know what you think! :) -adc  
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	2. Weekend Drama

**Ok. I was attempting to hold off on posting this next chapter. But your responses have just been overwhelming and I'm addicted to them. I admit it! Thank you all for your reviews and PM's, I love them all! So here's chapter 2. Let me know what you think, feed my addiction and keep the Zanessa love flowing! -adc**  


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Troy and Gabriella brought their lunches and met on the roof the next two days. They both had been practicing with Kelsi, the pianist, and were nervous and excited about the callbacks.

They were each working to avoid Troy's core group of friends, and the brainiacs that were obviously trying to woo Gabriella to the scholastic team. The Garden Club getaway offered them both a reprieve and a little bit of time to get to know each other.

By Friday afternoon Troy had gotten enough courage to invite Gabriella to his house to practice their duet together. He had asked Kelsi to burn a cd of the accompaniment for him, and she had brought him the tracks that morning. Now, he just had to ask Gabriella if she had time over the weekend to come and practice.

But before he could get the chance, something weird happened. Gabriella was pulled into a chemistry classroom filled with Taylor and the Scholastic Decathlon team. He was ushered into the boys' locker room and was met by his entire team, minus his dad, and a lecture about the importance of Wildcat basketball.

The result of those impromptu meetings was bizarre. The next time Troy saw Gabriella she was leaning against her locker practically in tears. He didn't know what had happened. But instead of talking to him she pushed the pairs' audition sheet music back in his hands and told him she was joining the scholastic team. Then she turned and walked away from him.

Instead of a weekend practicing their song and learning even more about each other, Troy was left wondering if basketball would be enough to fill the hole that he was suddenly feeling as he watched her walk in the opposite direction.

He didn't attempt to call her cell. His dad made sure he was running basketball drills all day Saturday and Sunday. Jack had no clue what had happened with his son. No idea that the basketball and scholastic teams had sabotaged his son and the girl who was suddenly a part of Troy's life. All Jack saw was an angry boy who had lost the ability to hit a shot from any angle, no matter how much he practiced.

Lucille noticed it too. Her frustration with her husband and his basketball regimen quickly grew as she saw something that seemed like pain on her son's face. By Sunday evening she had had enough.

Troy's mother made her way out to the backyard. Seeing her arms crossed across her chest Jack stopped in the center of the court. Troy gave one loud grunt and launched a shot at the basket. It missed the goal completely.

"You're done." Lucille managed to tell both of them. "Troy, come with me. Jack, I don't care where you go. Just leave us alone for a while."

Jack nodded. This was rare for his wife, but she was very in-tune with their son. And when she decided it was her turn to talk to him, Jack was not allowed to intrude, or even be present for that matter.

Jack headed into the house. Troy found a pose that had been familiar over the past two days. He threw himself on the ground and lay back, pressing his forearm over his eyes. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. Lucille quietly sat down beside him.

Lucille wanted to start at the beginning with Troy. This wasn't exactly how she had envisioned talking to him about a girlfriend, but Jack, and now Troy's attitude, were forcing her hand.

"Tell me about Gabriella Troy. Is she new at school? How did you meet her?" Lucille stopped with those initial questions and waited for an answer.

Troy kept his arm over his eyes. "Actually I met her New Year's Eve."

Lucille turned to look at her son with wide eyes. Troy still hadn't moved his arms. "New Year's Eve? We were on holiday in Colorado on New Year's Eve Troy."

"I'm well aware of that Mom. You made me go to that teen party at the lodge. Gabriella was there. Her mom made her go to that same party. We ended up singing karaoke together at that party and talked a little bit afterwards."

Lucille thought for a moment. "You weren't anxious to leave the lodge on New Year's morning and kept looking at your phone."

Troy nodded. "I didn't realize we were leaving so early. I had told Gabriella I would call her. And I had hoped we could get together again for hot chocolate or something before we left."

Lucille backed up another step. "Wait. Troy, did you say that you sang karaoke with her?"

Again he nodded. "Yep." Now he moved his arm from over his eyes and sat up next to his mother. They both knew that Jack was still watching them from the kitchen window. So, they sat with their backs facing the house.

"Does your father know about this? That you met her on New Year's Eve and that you sang?"

Troy chuckled sarcastically. "It wouldn't matter, would it? The only thing on his mind is championship Friday. Until that game is done he won't pay attention to anything I say. He was really, really rude when I tried to introduce Gabriella to him in the gym the other day."

Lucille nodded sadly. "Well why didn't you tell us about your karaoke experience after the party or on the way home on New Year's Day?"

Troy looked at her a bit sheepishly. "Um, by the time I came back up to the suite you and dad were, well, preoccupied?" He smiled with flushed cheeks. "I was dying to say something, but then by the next day…when I realized I wouldn't get to see her again…I just figured I'd let it go."

Lucille smiled at him with a matching blush on her cheeks. "Oh…so, now, how…" she worked to collect her thoughts. "How did she end up at East High?"

"Her mom was transferred. Mrs. Montez works in business mediation. She's been transferred all over the southwest for like five years now. Gabriella hasn't been at the same school for two years straight. She's even had to transfer in the middle of the school year several times, like this year." Troy had just learned that on Thursday during their lunch on the rooftop.

"Troy this almost sounds like fate. It's almost too good to be true. You met her and sang with her and then suddenly she's here." Lucille was getting a feeling that some higher power was involved in their meeting.

"Can you keep a secret from Dad?" Troy finally looked toward his mother.

"Well, you know that depends on what it is." Lucille saw the seriousness in her son's face.

"Gabriella and I are supposed to be in the callbacks for the next musical at the school." He tried to smile at his mom.

"What!?" Lucille was stunned.

"I'm not real sure how it happened. Monday we got back to school, Gabriella was there, Darbus announced the tryouts during free period and Gabriella and I both snuck in to listen to the people auditioning." Troy took a breath. His mom offered no comment so he continued. "When the tryouts were over, Gabriella asked if she could try out. Darbus said she had to have a partner, and I don't know…I said I would sing with her." Again he stopped.

"You have me completely confused Troy." His mother shook her head and smiled a little along with her look of confusion.

"Well, thank you, join my club!" Troy laughed a little. "Ms. Darbus didn't really let us try out. I don't think she took us seriously. But then the pianist dropped her music and we helped her out. Then the next thing I know the girl is playing this song on the piano and Gabriella and I were singing it together. Darbus just strolls back into the auditorium and says we have a callback next week and wants us to practice some other song."

Lucille looked at him. "You know your father doesn't get along with Ms. Darbus, right?"

"Mom, how could I not know. If the two of them are in the same hallway every student tries to run and hide. It's like water and oil separating." Troy described the rare scene.

"So you aren't doing this to play some prank on Ms. Darbus. You and Gabriella getting a second audition is something you want?" Lucille watched Troy's eyes and saw nothing but truth in them.

"I thought it was. We talked about it Wednesday during lunch. That's why I got detention. We were up on the roof and stayed longer than I thought. Gabriella and I were both late for class. But we decided then that we _did_ want to do it."

Lucille took a breath and looked again at Troy. Her confusion and his uncertainty made for odd expressions on their faces. She tried to digest what her son had just told her. She could definitely keep this a secret from Jack. No reason he needed to know anything as far as she was concerned. But she could tell there was more to this story. The reason why Troy's attitude had changed.

"Have you had a change of heart since then? Is that what has you upset?" she asked her son.

"I haven't, but apparently Gabriella has, and I don't know why." At this mention Troy lay back on the grass again and covered his eyes once more. "Friday after the pep rally she gave me back the audition music and just walked away from me. I don't know what happened but now she won't even talk to me."

Lucille reached over to pet her son's brown hair. "Gabriella has already become more than a friend to you, hasn't she?"

Troy moved his arm but shielded his eyes from the evening sun as he looked toward his mom. "I've never met anyone like her before Mom. I can't describe it. It's like, when I'm with her there's nothing missing. But since Friday when she walked away from me, there's a hole…"

Lucille took her index finger and pointed toward the left side of Troy's chest. "…right about there." She finished his thought. "Am I right?"

Troy simply nodded.

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Gabriella had been in her room since Friday afternoon. She was happy her mother wasn't home after the hellacious day she had had at school. She had gone from humming a duet with Troy in the hallway to staring at him in homeroom to daydreaming about him during Calculus.

During free period things started crashing in on her. Taylor and the scholastic team had rudely pulled her away from Troy and sent him into the gym. The last thing Gabriella needed was a lecture but that's exactly what she got from her so-called new 'friend'. She really didn't feel like arguing with these people about her actual friendship with the basketball captain.

Then when Troy appeared on the laptop computer screen she felt completely cornered. At first she smiled at just the sight of him. Then as words started spewing from his mouth the smile faded and she felt the hot saliva coating her mouth and throat. He really was saying that he would forget about her and the callbacks. She didn't even try to stop the tears from leaving her eyes. Why bother?

And there was Taylor and other classmates now asking her if she wanted to go get lunch. They really had no clue! This was one of the exact reasons she had avoided making friends at other schools. Absolutely the reason she had avoided any thought of 'liking' a boy.

The rest of the day had been a complete blur. The only other part she remembered was Troy wanting to talk to her about the callbacks. She didn't even give him time to talk. She had shoved the music back into his hands and walked away. Gabriella was happy about just one thing following that exchange. At least she had made it to the bathroom before her stomach contents made their way up her throat and out of her mouth.

By the time Maria made it home that night Gabriella had silenced her sobs and resolved that she would not let thoughts of fabulous friendships get in the way of her scholastic goals.

Maria found her daughter in her bedroom on the computer looking at the Stanford University website. She smiled as she walked in and looked over Gabriella's shoulder. She was a little shocked to see an application for Stanford's summer programs on the screen.

Gabriella felt her mom's presence and cleared her throat. "It would give me an even better shot at making the Freshman Honors Program next year if I could get into some of their summer programs this year."

Maria sat down on Gabi's bed and looked at her daughter who had turned to face her. She quickly noticed the stressed features of the girl's face and the hint of tears in her voice.

"I thought you would want to spend the summer with your friends. What are Troy and Taylor planning to do this summer?" She questioned with intent, watching Gabi's reaction closely.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the computer. "Doesn't matter. I need to think about what _I'm_ doing."

"But getting all of the stuff together, filling out the paperwork and scholarship applications…that will certainly take away from the time you'll need to put into this musical. I'm certain you'll get a part in it. I'm anxious to see you and Troy perform together." Still Maria was working to read her daughter's actions.

"I'm not doing the program. _We've_ decided not to try out." She kept her back turned to Maria as the tears welled in her eyes again.

"What happened Mija?" Maria stepped toward the computer and put her hand on Gabi's shoulder.

Gabriella turned in her chair and buried her head against her mother's stomach. The tears rolled down her face again as she felt her mother wrap her loving arms around her. Maria crouched down beside her to hold Gabriella's head on her shoulder.

"I'm not even sure I know." She cried.

Maria stroked her back. She quickly pulled Gabriella from the bedroom, down the stairs to the kitchen. She sat her daughter on a bar stool at the counter and pulled a bag of microwave popcorn from the grocery bag she had carried in.

There was no more conversation about the day's events. With the bag of popcorn in hand Maria had taken her Briella back upstairs to the smaller bedroom. They had snuggled on Maria's bed with some old comedy movie playing in the background. That's where Gabriella went to sleep that night.

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The two had spent the weekend together, avoiding the subject that had brought Gabriella such pain. Maria wanted desperately for her daughter to talk to her and let her know what had happened. Instead they had spent hours in the yard on Saturday planting flowers and hanging the hammock.

They had shared a laugh as they looked at each other covered in dirt and sweat, even in January's cool temperatures. Gabriella insisted that the hammock had to be put in the yard. It was a reminder to them both of lazy summer days they had spent with Manuel. For different, yet similar reasons they both took a moment to think about how much they missed having him there.

Sunday was quiet for them, visiting a church service, going out to eat and then returning home. Maria turned to her computer having several hours of work that she needed to finish by Monday morning. Gabriella headed to her room and began to work ahead on homework.

As the sun began to set that evening Maria decided it was time to delve a little deeper into her daughter's situation. She knocked gently on the door before hearing a cell phone ring inside. It wasn't a ring tone she was familiar with. So she stood just outside the door and eavesdropped for a moment on Gabi's short conversation.

"I have nothing to say to you. I told you, I'll do the Scholastic Decathlon and you bring home the basketball championship. Finished, done."

Maria turned the door handle just as the same ring tone sounded again. She peeked in the door to see Gabriella's back. She was sitting on the bed facing the balcony. Maria watched as the teen picked up the phone again. "Leave. Me. Alone."

The mother was a bit stunned by the anger and hurt in the girl's voice. When Gabi put the phone down heavily on the bed once more, Maria walked the rest of the way into the room. She pulled the chair from Gabriella's computer desk and sat in it facing her daughter.

She saw the tears in Gabi's eyes. "Tell me. Briella, just tell me what happened."

The words that tumbled from her daughter's mouth over the next fifteen minutes made Maria angry. But even more they made her confused. If this young man had taken such an interest in her daughter, why would he suddenly hurt her? It didn't make sense.

"Perhaps his dad is putting extra pressure on him. You said Mr. Bolton is the coach, right?" Maria asked.

Gabriella nodded. "Oh, I'm sure he is. Troy has told me about it. That's why he's been going up to the rooftop for lunch, to make sure he gets a little break away from the guys and his dad during the day. He's interested in more than just basketball." A touch of a smile formed on her face.

Maria's face softened at the sight. "Between his dad and the guys…maybe the pressure is just more than he can take."

"Maybe." Gabriella stared down again at her hands. "But it's no excuse for what he said. I should've known this didn't really mean anything to him. I should've just stuck to my normal routine. I just thought…I just…" she stopped talking and shook her head with more tears falling from her eyes.

"You have to go back to school tomorrow. You know that." Maria lifted Gabriella's chin up so that they were looking at one another again. "I won't allow you to miss school because of an argument." _Even if it was with the boy with whom you're falling in love._ She thought. _That's why this hurts so much._ She let the words run through her head, but caught them before they actually came from her mouth. Instead she stopped and caressed her daughter's tear-stained cheek.

Gabriella nodded. "Can I sleep in your room again tonight?" she requested.

Maria nodded. "Anytime my darling. Anytime."

They walked from the room. Neither of them heard Gabriella's cell phone ring three more times that evening. Neither of them had any idea what lengths Troy would go to, to fix the hole that only Gabriella could fill in his heart.

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	3. Monday Distractions

**What can I say? Your response has been so awesome! Hope you enjoy this one as well. Read, enjoy and review or PM me!  
(And for goodness sake, if you see or hear any Zanessa news please let me know!! Keep the Zanessa love flowing! :) )  
-adc**

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Monday was awkward…more than awkward. Gabriella was an observant young woman. After talking with her mother she watched the behavior of several students throughout that day. Taylor and her decathlon teammates were nearly giddy. At least twice they surrounded Gabriella to talk about practice schedules for the team. Twice Gabriella had nodded her head and pretended to listen. And twice she had gotten up and walked away from the group, retreating to a solitary corner of the classroom.

She watched members of the basketball team in what appeared to be their normal routine. Discussing strategies, planning to meet for practice during free period, pumping each other up for the battle against the West High Knights on Friday. Troy had been practically dragged into those conversations. Yet from what Gabriella observed, he didn't actually contribute anything other than being another team member.

The scene she observed was a far cry from the cheering Troy at the impromptu pep rally that had occurred after his rallying 'team' speech on Friday. The Troy she was watching today had a lost look in his eyes. He kept trying to steal glances at her, trying to catch her gaze. And each time he thought he had caught Gabriella's eyes she turned away, gradually increasing that hole that Troy felt.

She found a folded piece of paper in her locker just before lunch. _Meet me on the roof, please?_ Troy watched her from a hidden corner of the hallway. She read the note, sighed deeply and then crumpled the paper. She threw it into a trashcan and walked into the cafeteria.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and made his way into the dining area as well. As they tried to avoid their respective teammates they found themselves face to face in the middle of the tables. Troy did his best to smile. "Hey." He offered. Gabriella saw the pained look in his eyes and heard his soft voice but she knew better than to answer him. The last thing she needed was to break down in tears in front of everyone. So instead she turned away from him and walked away.

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20 minutes later Taylor and crew found Gabriella sitting quietly in the chemistry lab. With as much feeling as they could muster for the basketball team, Taylor tried to explain the plan that she and Chad had formed to keep Gabi and Troy out of the callbacks. And then, the scholastic team apologized.

Gabriella listened to them. But, Troy's words had cut deep. They couldn't apologize for him. And at the moment, she still didn't want to hear anything from him. She couldn't figure out why his words had hurt so much. At that precise time, she didn't even want to hear his voice for fear it would hurt her even more.

Taylor and the team exited the room with a few meaningful words. They obviously had no clue what Gabriella was going through. She didn't join them in leaving. Instead she stayed, sat in the lab trying to figure out a chemical reaction of a completely different sort…one that was going on inside of her. Monday, and she wanted to go back home.

At the same time Troy was getting a very similar explanation from his best friends. He watched as Chad, Jason and Zeke confessed to him the vicious mental attack that they had played out on Troy and Gabriella. Chad hung his head ashamed as he admitted, "and the plan worked perfectly. Too perfectly."

Troy gripped the railing of the rooftop so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Through gritted teeth he turned to his teammates. He worked hard not to scream. Reprimanding them was the farthest thing from his mind, but the only thing he could do at the moment.

The boys braced themselves for the apparent rampage that was forming in their captain's brain. "Did Dad put you up to this?" Troy hissed at them.

"What?" Chad looked at him and shook his head.

"Did my Dad, our coach, put this idea in your head?" He repeated the question more clearly.

"No." Chad answered solidly. "No. This was totally us. And we're sorry. We had no idea that you were serious about the singing stuff."

Troy looked at his friends with fire still blazing in his eyes. "You don't get it, do you? This isn't about me and singing. Really, I enjoy it, but it's not about me. It's about Gabriella. You've got no clue what she's gone through the past few years. She finally has a chance to make some friends and you guys go and piss me off and make me say crappy things and … I can't even … you just really screwed it up for me and hurt her. That's what it all boils down to. Gabriella is hurt and it's my fault, and that's you're fault."

The three other boys looked at each other somewhat confused. Jason was the one who chanced asking the next question. "So, um, Gabriella's like more to you than just a singing partner? She just started here. You act like you've known her for longer dude. If she's your girlfriend, where've you been hiding her?"

Troy shot him a look, but realized coming from his somewhat dense friend, the question was genuine, not a joke. He sighed and dropped his shoulders, now realizing what Gabriella must be going through, at his expense. "Guys, it's a long story. I'm sure it's one you will enjoy…" He stopped and smiled at the thought of their mutual karaoke experience. "But I'm not gonna tell you about it unless I can straighten this out with her. I'll just say that right now, Gabriella needs friends. She doesn't need idiots like us playing stupid games with her."

They stood there for another few minutes before the warning bell rang, signaling the end of their lunch period. "Can we do anything to help?" Chad looked at his best friend sincerely.

Troy thought nervously for a minute. "Tell dad I won't be at practice this afternoon. If he doesn't like it, too bad. And tell Taylor not to give up on Gabriella. If she won't let me be her friend she still needs somebody here."

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Troy made his way down to the gym and headed toward his dad's office. He was already late for class. His mind was so far from school right now that it really didn't matter. This was his father's free period. Whether Jack liked it or not, his son needed a bit of advice.

Troy knew his mom had shared at least part of their Sunday night conversation with his father. That was quite obvious from their drive into school together that morning. The drive that usually consisted of Troy listening to his iPod and his father listening to the morning radio news had a more personal turn.

The questions were personal enough that Troy had wondered if Jack had something to do with the eerie turn of events on Friday. The questions that Troy had blown off this morning were ones that he now felt like answering, if his father would listen. He still wasn't ready to tell his dad about the callbacks although he was quite sure Jack had heard rumors. But Troy was ready to let his dad know that Gabriella was more than just a new girl at school.

He knocked on the glass and peered in as his father was looking at charts and lesson plans with his student teacher. Troy ducked his head in and quickly caught his father's eye. "Can I borrow you for a few minutes?" Troy asked.

Jack excused his assistant and motioned for Troy to come in and sit down. "You're gonna have detention again, why aren't you in class?"

The blood drained from Troy's face as he sat in front of his father. "I need to talk to you as my Dad right now. Not my coach, not a teacher, okay?" Troy started seriously.

Jack leaned forward and put his hands together on his desk. "What's up?"

"Gabriella." Just the name coming from Troy's lips, in his father's presence caused the teen to blush.

Jack sighed. His wife had lectured him about this subject last night after her conversation with Troy. He remembered three words that she had said to him specifically…because she had said them several times. _Take him seriously._

He looked at his son again. "Are you ok?" The girl had only been at school a week. Even with the two detentions that she and Troy had shared, no explicit details had gotten back to the coach about why they had had detention. He was now a bit worried about this budding relationship.

Troy nodded. "I'm fine. But Chad and the guys have screwed with Gabriella and I don't know how to make it right."

Jack's eyes widened at Troy's choice of words and a serious look covered his face. "What did they do to her?"

Troy noticed his father's worried demeanor and realized why. "It wasn't physical Dad. Nothing like that. They just…" It suddenly dawned on Troy that he may have to tell his father about the singing 'thing'.

The teen took a deep breath and looked at his father, trying to find the right words. "Gabriella and I have a chance to try out for the school musical. Chad and the guys thought that would mess with our chances of winning the big game. So they suckered me into saying some stuff that hurt Gabriella's feelings. They made sure she heard me say them."

Jack nodded. "So now you need to apologize to her."

Troy was a bit shocked. He thought his _coach_ would catch onto the bit about the musical. Instead, his _father_ was actually listening to him. "I've tried to apologize. I called her five times last night. I've tried to talk to her face to face today. But she won't listen to me."

Jack looked at his son. "Yet you still want to talk to her?"

"Yeah." Troy answered honestly.

"Why?" Jack wasn't trying to be mean. He was trying to help Troy figure out what was going on, in his head and in his heart. "Is it because you really want to try out for the musical and need her as a partner? Or is it another reason?"

Troy looked his dad in the eye. Jack wasn't smiling. He wasn't teasing him. The look on his face showed concern for his son, not one of his basketball players. "I don't care if we do the callbacks or not. I just…I've hurt her and I need to make it right. I screwed up and I need to fix it."

"You've broken some hearts in the past Troy; you've hurt some other girls. Why is Gabriella different from them? Why do you care?" Jack sounded a little brash with his questions now but he really wanted an answer.

"Because she's different Dad. There's something about her that I really like. And something inside of me is telling me that I want Gabriella in my life for more than just school." Troy shook his head. He wasn't sure where the emotional words were coming from, until he thought about that hole that he had discussed with his mom.

"Dad…" Troy thought for a moment then continued. "When you and Mom first met. Did you just feel like you wanted her around all the time?"

Jack smiled. His Luce couldn't stand him when they first met…in high school…in Albuquerque. But that changed through their senior high years. And if he was honest, yeah, when he really started to get to know her…he didn't want to be apart from her, ever.

The smile sunk to a concerned look on his face. Was his son in love with this girl? They had only known each other a week. No, Luce said it was sometime over the holiday that Troy met her. But they were in Colorado for the majority of the holiday. Suddenly Jack's brain was being bombarded by minute facts and major occurrences that he should be aware of.

"Dad?" Troy was still waiting for an answer.

"What? Uh, wait….what was the question?" Jack tried to remember what his son had asked him.

Troy thought he had lost the father/son talk and started to get up to leave. "Wait!" Jack stopped him. "We are far from finished here. What did you ask me?"

The young man sat back down and looked at his dad. "When you and mom got together. Did you just want to be around her all the time?"

Jack nodded. "Yes…" He hesitated to say the next part but wanted his son to know the truth. "When I realized I was in love with her. I didn't want to be away from her at all."

Troy's eyes opened wide and he stared at his father. He sat dumbfounded by his dad's words. He was merely 16 years old. Love was far in the future for him…wasn't it?

Jack took a breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you with that. You've got way too much on your mind…you need to talk to Gabriella."

Troy still watched his father cautiously. He had just sent a shock wave the size of Tokyo crashing through his brain. He attempted to follow his father's example and sucked in a deep breath.

Square one. That's what Troy needed to get back to with Gabriella. The very beginning. "I'm not gonna be at practice today." He informed his dad.

Jack stood from his desk and walked behind Troy. "I kind of figured as much. How are you getting home? Do you need to call mom to pick you up?"

He watched his son from behind. Troy was still sitting in the chair looking at his hands in his lap.

"No. I'm gonna ride the bus home. I need to figure out where she lives." He turned to look at his dad. Jack simply nodded his head.

"Doesn't Gabriella have decathlon team practice today?" Jack queried.

Troy was a bit surprised that his dad would know this information. Maybe he had taken more of an interest in Gabriella than Troy originally thought. "I think she's supposed to. But I don't know if she'll actually go. I think we've both had a pretty rough weekend. I'm thinking maybe she'll just go home to rest and do homework."

"You aren't going to try to get off the bus with her, are you?" Jack was hoping his son had more sense than that.

"No…oh no. If I did that she'd probably call the cops on me." Troy laughed under his breath. "Although maybe she'd realize then that I really, really want to talk to her about this."

"So, do you have a plan?" Jack was now quite curious. If the young lady didn't want to talk to him, how did he think he would make this work?

"I figured once I get my homework done, and get some food in my stomach, I'm just gonna march up and ring the front doorbell. What've I got to lose?" He finally smiled a little.

"Straight and to the point. What's Mom making for dinner tonight?" Jack grinned.

"Cheeseburgers and French fries. Comfort food, and I plan to fill myself full of it before I visit the Montez women."

"Sounds like Plan A is a go. Speaking of going…" Jack looked at his watch. "You should probably try to make the last 20 minutes of class. Who's your teacher, I'll write you a note for this one."

Troy grimaced. "Darbus."

Jack cringed. "Sports injury. Go get a bag of ice and put it on your nose and lips. Walk into class with that and this note. We'll pray she doesn't give you detention today of all days."

Troy hugged his dad and let one more thought slip from his lips. "You felt like this when you fell in _love_ with mom? When was that?"

Jack looked at him and hesitated to answer. He didn't want to scare Troy but he wasn't gonna lie. "Sophomore year…" he stalled, "…of high school."

Troy's eyes grew wide. He and Gabriella were just a year older, in their junior year.

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The sixth period class bell rang and Ms. Darbus quickly called the class to order. Speech and Public Speaking was not her most favorite class to teach, but sometimes it led to new members for the drama department. She had been quite shocked, this semester, to find several basketball players and science students taking her course.

On this particular day, some of those very students were playing out what appeared to be their own drama in the back of the classroom. The at-times overbearing teacher was a bit mesmerized by the scene, so she sat down in her chair on the pseudo-stage at the front of the class and settled in for the show.

The focus, she realized quickly, was around Miss Montez. The quiet student was sitting in her seat at the back of the class with her head in her hands almost violently shaking her head. Still, she wasn't saying a word.

Miss McKessie was standing beside the dark-haired girl with a hand on her shoulder. It seemed she was trying to apologize to Gabriella but the words weren't having any effect.

Still, the most humorous part of the scene was Mr. Danforth on his knees on the floor looking up at Miss Montez, attempting to show a side of himself that few knew existed.

Ms. Darbus raised her index finger to her lips as other students in the class watched her actions and then turned to look at the trio in the back of the class. One person was conspicuously missing from this bit of drama. Mr. Bolton.

Chad lowered his voice as he realized that class was about to start but kept talking. "Seriously, Gabs. Um, can I call you that? Hoops…that's Troy…he didn't mean any of that stuff. We suckered him into saying it. You saw it, right? We were jerkin' his chain and messin' with him. It's not his fault he said that stupid stuff."

Gabriella raised her head and sent a cruel stare in Chad's direction. "My name is Gabriella. Use it. And Troy's not dumb, he knew what he was saying."

Taylor jumped into the conversation, her hand still trying to place soothing strokes on Gabriella's shoulder. "But peer pressure is horrible. These guys could convince a monk to speak if they put their minds to it and worked together. Seriously. You don't know how convincing they can be. And teamwork is their calling. That's why they're in the championship game."

Gabriella's dagger-filled stare now turned toward Taylor. Chad, on the other hand, was smiling at the dark-skinned brainiac who was apparently complimenting and insulting him all at the same time. "Thanks Tay!" he started. And then upon thinking further. "At least I think I should thank you. Or was that an insult?"

Taylor rolled her eyes and looked back at Gabriella who had again put her head down in her hands.

Finally Gabriella spoke up. "Would you both just SHUT UP! Geez. I get it. You don't want me and Troy to do the callbacks. You worked together and tricked him into saying stuff. You didn't know how much that stuff was gonna hurt ME." She stopped and looked at both of them. "That would be because neither one of you actually KNOW me."

It was then that Gabriella noticed Ms. Darbus's nonchalant pose at the front of the class. And it was then that Troy made his way into the classroom holding a bag of ice to his face.

The class went silent as the basketball captain handed the teacher his excuse and went to take his seat in the front of the class.

"Ahhh." Ms Darbus commented. "I wondered how you fit into this little drama troupe Mr. Bolton. Don't you belong with those three at the back of the class, pleading for Miss Montez's forgiveness as well?"

Troy dropped the bag of ice and quickly turned around to see Chad, Taylor and a nearly-smothering Gabriella who seemed to be on the verge of tears, again. _Dear God, when will this nightmare end?_

Taylor and Chad both shrugged woefully to let Troy know they were trying to help him.

Troy turned back to face the teacher. This time he stood up and walked to Ms. Darbus with purpose. "You're the instructor of this class. Please tell them to leave her alone. Let her go to the restroom or dressing room or somewhere to compose herself and just get on with class. PLEASE."

His demanding tone caught Ms. Darbus off guard. No one else heard Troy's plea. No one else needed to. It wasn't the first hint of a dramatic presence that the drama team sponsor had witnessed from Troy Bolton. But it was the first time she took it to heart.

"Mr. Danforth, off the floor. Please take your seat behind Mr. Bolton. Miss McKessie, I believe your seat is still unoccupied." She walked to the back of the classroom with a box of tissues in hand and quietly held it out for Gabriella to take a couple. "Miss Montez," the teacher's voice softened subtly. "Would you like to visit the ladies room, perhaps?"

Gabriella's weary eyes looked thankfully up into Ms. Darbus's now gentle face and nodded. "Yes please."

And with that Ms. Darbus walked back to the front of the classroom. "Commanding attention is one of the first things you must learn in public speaking. By drawing attention to one's self at the very beginning of a performance, an actor can take the audience by storm." Her direct look at Troy sent shivers down his spine.

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	4. Fix It

**Okay T & G fans, here's chapter 4! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and kind words! You know they just feed my addiction and keep me writing! :)  
Hey, in case I haven't said this before...special thanks to Inky Hula and Faithless Girl for their opinions and suggestions on this story. You guys have been a true inspiration to me while writing this, and keeping me going with your comments!**

**As always, read, enjoy and review! And even more important...Keep the Zanessa Love flowing!! ;)  
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After the sixth period fiasco Gabriella could not wait to just get home. She couldn't even bear the thought of practicing with Taylor and the decath team. She just wanted to get home, into her own room and crawl into bed.

As the final bell rang, Taylor still took a chance and invited Gabriella to join them in the chemistry lab. It was all the young lady could do to gently decline the offer. Taylor nodded and watched her head in the direction of the buses.

Troy waited for her to board the bus and find a seat before he even attempted to get in line. He knew she would feel awkward, knowing that he rode the same bus. They had talked about where they lived and Troy had told her that they were in the same neighborhood, just a couple of streets apart. At the time of that conversation, Gabriella had seemed thrilled to know they were practically neighbors. He doubted she still felt that way.

Gabriella watched as Troy made his way onto the bus. She was confused and very tempted to ask him why he wasn't at basketball practice. And, she expected him to try and sit with her. Which he did, silently.

She wasn't quite sure if she should be happy about that or not. After all, he had attempted to talk to her and she turned him down flat. He had called, given her notes and sent his friends to try and help. Each time she had rejected him. So, why did she feel so incredibly empty and upset because of his current silence?

She looked out the window and bit on her bottom lip. It was all Troy could do not to talk to her. But he didn't want her to feel cornered. He wanted to give her some space. This particular Monday had been overwhelming to both of them. He just hoped that after a few hours of peace and quiet at their homes, perhaps they could try again.

When the bus pulled to a stop in front of the two-story home, two streets over from Troy's, he sensed that it was hers and glanced to see her clutching her bag and preparing to exit. She tried not to pay attention to him as she brushed past him to get out of the seat. But when Troy reached out and touched her arm she couldn't ignore him.

She stopped just long enough to hear him say, "I'll talk to you later, ok?" but didn't answer him. Troy watched her as she walked down the steps and made her way to her front door. He would definitely talk to her later.

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Gabriella was surprised to find Maria at home already this afternoon. She walked into the house to a plate full of brownies and a tub of vanilla ice cream waiting on the kitchen counter.

She smiled at her mother but couldn't conceal the tears that were in her eyes. She sat and pinched at one of the brownies before placing the tiny crumbs in her mouth. "You're home early today."

Maria nodded. "You had a rough weekend. I didn't want you home alone tonight."

Gabriella looked down at the dessert in front of her. "Taylor and one of Troy's basketball buddies cooked up this whole scheme."

Maria slid onto a stool beside her daughter and put her arm around her shoulder. "What scheme?"

Gabriella proceeded to tell her mom about the duo's plan to keep her and Troy from auditioning for the show. "They figured if we didn't do the callbacks then I could join the decath team and Troy would focus on basketball."

"It backfired on them." Maria mentioned.

"It backfired all the way around." Gabriella shook her head. "I really liked him Mom. I mean REALLY liked him. I know it probably sounds silly and immature, but I thought maybe I'd found somebody special."

"Briella…" Maria looked at her with furrowed brows. "Why are you talking in past tense? Don't you still _really_ like him? Troy hasn't gone anywhere honey. You just haven't answered his calls."

"But Mom, you didn't hear what he said. He said he'd forget about me and the callbacks, and that I don't mean anything to him." Gabriella let the tears come again as she thought about the sickening words he had spoken.

"Gabriella. We all say things we don't mean. And we regret them. Aren't you regretting telling Troy to leave you alone? That's what you told him on the phone last night, wasn't it?"

"Yes." She let out a muffled laugh. "But he didn't pay attention anyway. He called three more times last night after we went to your room. And he was still trying this morning. He even wanted me to go back up to the roof at lunchtime. And then on the bus he told me he'd talk to me later. He's persistent, I'll give him that much."

Maria stopped for a moment. "I thought you told me he had basketball practice everyday after school. Why was he on the bus today?"

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders and pinched off another bite of brownie. "Don't know. Don't care." She attempted to sound convincing. Her mother saw right through the act.

"Gabriella Anne Montez. That's quite enough. You do care. You do care about this boy and you're getting ready to hurt yourself, and possibly Troy too. If you keep pushing him away, he's going to take you up on the offer and not come back." Maria's tone was quite insistent. She realized her daughter had never been in this situation before. But she thought her straight-A student was smarter than this.

Gabriella sat in front of her mother with the look of an innocent elementary school student. She had never experienced a relationship with a boy. Not really. She was beginning to realize that there was more to her _friendship_ with Troy than she was ready to admit.

She looked at her mother and raised her face so they could see eye to eye. "So what do I do?" The question was nearly pleading for an answer.

"Right now? I'd say you should hope and pray that he gives you another chance. And if he tries to talk to you again, let him." Maria encouraged.

"I don't know if I can Mama. Don't force me to, please? This is all totally new to me…and I just don't know if I can."

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Lucille wasn't surprised to see Troy walking into the house that afternoon. Jack had called her to let her know what was going on. She was a bit surprised that he came in and sat down in the kitchen. She expected him to make a beeline toward his own room.

She smiled at her son and walked around behind him offering him a glass of milk that she had just poured for herself. She put her hand on his back and rubbed his t-shirt clad shoulder blade. "Rough day?"

Troy turned to look at his mom. "Chad, and Jason and Zeke made a royal fool out of me."

"That's what this is all about?" Lucille stopped pampering her son.

"Yeah, but I'm the one that's gotta fix it." Troy stiffened as his mom removed her hand from his back. He proceeded to tell her the story that Jack had shared with her earlier, only with more details.

"So you are going to fix it?" Lucille looked at her son with wondering eyes.

Troy nodded.

"Troy, you've only known her a week. I know you met over the holiday. But really, she's only been in your life for a week." Lucille stopped, not sure of what else she was trying to say.

Troy looked off into space, staring through the back door to the court in the yard. He nodded at her words but wasn't sure how to reply. "I know."

They sat there silently for a few minutes. Troy finally looked at his mother. "I'm really confused Mom. All I know is that I need her to talk to me again. Even if she tells me that she doesn't ever want to speak to me again, I just need to hear her say that. But I sure hope that's not what she says."

He took another deep breath and got up from the table. He reached for his half-opened backpack. Lucille noticed the musical score sitting in the main pocket of the pack.

"Does Dad know about the callbacks?" She felt even more sorry for her son because his dilemma was more than just a girlfriend issue.

"Apparently so. He didn't act surprised when I mentioned it to him during our talk today. I assume you know he and I had a chat?" Troy asked as he worked to zip the bag.

Lucille nodded. "He actually mentioned something to me last week. Something about Ms. Darbus claiming that you could sing. I just thought it was part of the ongoing bickering between them…until you and I talked yesterday."

Troy smiled a little.

"Will you go on with the callbacks if Gabriella doesn't come round to you?" she asked.

"Nah. Wouldn't be a reason to. I certainly don't want to sing with Sharpay Evans! But hopefully…" he crossed his fingers and gave his mom a kiss on the cheek, "that won't be an issue after tonight."

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Troy pulled his blue jean jacket a little tighter around his body as he stepped onto the sidewalk leading up to the Montez's front door. He continued to mumble words, practicing the apology that he wanted to convey to Gabriella. And he practiced simply introducing himself to her mother.

He took a deep breath, knocked on the door and waited. A lovely woman, who resembled Gabriella, opened the front door. Troy started his speech.

"Mrs. Montez, I'm Troy Bolton."

By the end of that simple phrase Gabriella had made her way to the stairs. Her eyes were worried and showed a bit of shock. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't face him. Not yet.

Maria looked back hoping her daughter would allow her to invite Troy in. She thought perhaps they could sit in the living room and maybe she could help them figure this out. Beyond the idea of love-interest, before the two teens should even think about romance, her daughter simply needed a friend.

But with the fearful look on Gabriella's face, Maria knew she couldn't do that. So she lied for her daughter. She gently informed Troy that Gabriella was working on homework. And she accepted Troy's words, that he had made a 'mistake' and assured him that she would tell Gabriella that he came by to see her.

Maria was familiar with teenage boys. She knew they could put on a nice front for parents and then be a completely different person with their friends. The same is true for teenage girls. But the handsome man that she had just met seemed genuinely apologetic. Gabriella's happiness and protection were at the top of Maria's list of priorities. She got a quick feeling from Troy Bolton that those items topped his list as well.

Before she could even speak to her daughter about that short conversation at the front door, Gabriella had gone back to her room. Maria sighed and headed back toward the kitchen. She heard the gate in the back yard creak as though someone had opened it. The feeling that formed in the pit of her stomach wasn't fear from that sound though.

The feeling caused her to peek through the curtained back doors to see the dark figure of a teenage boy creeping into their yard. She watched steadily as the boy took out his cell phone and looked toward the balcony of her home. The balcony that connected to Gabriella's bedroom.

Maria smiled and listened closely. Yes, there was the ring tone that was becoming quite familiar. And yes, that dark figure was moving toward the trellis that would lead him to the balcony. She shook her head as she wondered just how long she should let this go on. Gabriella's mother decided quickly. In 10 minutes she would go and listen at Gabriella's door. In 15 she would knock and make her way in.

----------

Gabriella answered his call this time. She coolly started speaking into the phone and began to listen to his explanation.

Troy was elated. He worked diligently to climb the trellis with one hand while he held the cell phone in the other, close to his ear. She wasn't telling him to leave her alone. She wasn't hanging up on him. She was listening. Maybe that meant that he still had a chance.

He made his way onto the balcony and looked through her window. The sight of her in her jogging suit, sitting on the bed with her back to him made the hole in his heart close just a bit. He was this close. "Turn around." He urged her through the phone.

Gabriella slowly turned to see him standing outside her door. She took just a moment to cross the room and tentatively open the venue to her balcony. Troy stood for a minute, unsure of what else to say. So he started singing.

"This could be the start of something new. It feels so right to be here with you. And now looking in your eyes I feel in my heart…the start of something… new."

The words they had sang together on New Year's Eve echoed through Gabriella's mind. She smiled at him softly and Troy noticed the tears in her eyes. She still didn't say a word. "It's a pair's audition." He said as he held up the music that she had forced back into his hands on Friday.

With a knowing gait, Gabriella walked out onto the balcony and took the music from him. She looked at it as she leaned against the balcony. Troy turned and stood directly beside her making sure their bodies touched. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the evening just like this.

Maria stood just outside of Gabriella's bedroom door. She had heard the male voice singing and knew Gabriella must have opened the door for him. She would wait five more minutes before inviting them both downstairs for brownies, and a conversation.

----------

Gabriella and Troy both jumped from the perch on the bed when Maria knocked on the door. Maria did her best to hide the fact that she knew Troy was present in the room. "Briella, do you want to talk? Honey, I think you need to work this out with Troy. He seems like a nice young man." She smiled to herself.

Troy started for the balcony doors to try and hide from Maria but Gabriella stopped him. She knew what was coming next and she knew Troy would never have time to actually make it out of the room unnoticed. She pointed to the chair at her desk. Troy quickly moved from the bed to the chair just as Maria turned the doorknob and entered the room.

The mother feigned shock at the sight of a boy in her daughter's room. "Oh, Troy. How did you get up here? Gabriella? Explanation please." Maria attempted to sound stern.

Both teens blushed. Both stammered for words. Both were stunned when the forced scowl on Maria's face turned to a slight smile.

"The trellis is not the safest means of arriving at this destination. And by the way, the back gate hinges haven't been oiled yet." Maria looked at Troy.

"Mrs. Montez, I can explain." Troy started.

"Mom…" was all that Gabriella could get to come out of her mouth.

Maria smiled at them both again and held the door open. "The brownies aren't warm, but they're still on the kitchen counter. Let's go downstairs, shall we?"

Maria shuffled the two kids out the door and down into the kitchen. She couldn't help but smile as she watched them glance at each other. Neither said anything, but their looks were worth a thousand words.

Troy pulled out a chair for Gabriella and then sat himself down at the table. Maria put the brownies on plates and placed them on the table in front of the kids. Troy quickly took a bite and let the moist chocolate melt in his mouth.

"These are awesome!" He exclaimed before completely swallowing the first bite. Maria and Gabriella smiled at each other as they watched Troy nearly inhale the remainder of his treat.

"Would you like another?" Maria asked as she held in a laugh. The young man beside her really was adorable.

"If it's not too much trouble, may I?" Troy suddenly felt a bit shy and did his best to use the manners his parents had taught him early in life.

This time he deliberately took his time as he enjoyed the sweetness. He looked at both of the women sitting on either side of him. "I owe you both an apology." He said and sat up a bit straighter.

Gabriella looked at him with a bit of confusion. Maria sat comfortably just waiting to hear what he would say.

"I shouldn't have snuck into the back yard. I'm sorry about that Mrs. Montez. But I needed to talk to Gabriella. I told you. I made a mistake. A huge mistake. And I'm sorry." He looked at Gabriella pleadingly. They had already covered this in her room over the past few minutes. But Troy was willing to admit he was wrong again, in front of her mother.

With Maria sitting there Gabriella opened up a bit as well. "I'm sorry too." She admitted. "For not listening to you."

As much as Maria wanted to say it, she kept the _"Ok, now kiss and make up."_ line to herself. Instead she ventured onto another topic. "So, when are the callbacks?"

"Thursday." Troy and Gabriella replied in unison.

"And the decathlon is Friday, correct?" Maria quizzed them.

"Yeah." Gabriella answered. "Along with the championship basketball game." She smiled shyly at Troy.

"Do you think you'll be able to make it to any of the game?" Troy asked her hopefully.

"I hope so." Gabriella smiled at him. "I really want to see you play ball Wildcat."

Troy blushed at the nickname. Gabriella blushed because she let it slip from her mouth. Maria sat back watching her daughter's first relationship form right before her eyes. The next year was going to be very interesting.

----------

For the next hour Troy sat in the kitchen of the Montez household recounting the events that had transpired since New Year's Eve with Gabriella and Maria. He quickly noted how comfortable he felt with both of them.

He was a bit shocked when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Troy quickly pulled the device to his ear and accepted the call. "Oh, shoot!" he looked wide-eyed at Gabriella and then his eyes searched around the kitchen for a clock.

"Sorry, I lost track of time. I'll be there in ten." He grimaced.

He ended the call and looked back at Maria and Gabriella. "My curfew was a half hour ago."

The Montez women both stood with Troy as he rushed to put his jacket back on.

"Do you need me to run you home?" Maria offered. "It's partly my fault. I should've asked you earlier. Maybe I can explain for you." She suggested sympathetically.

"No, really, it's ok. I think I'll avoid detention this time." Troy grinned, causing Gabriella to laugh out loud. "Mom and Dad both knew where I was going. I think they are more curious than worried right now." He turned to look at Maria. "But can I keep your offer in my back pocket just in case?"

Maria smiled at him. "On one condition." She raised her eyebrows as her smile turned a bit crooked. "Promise me you'll stay off the trellis."

Troy ducked his head sheepishly. "Promise."

Gabriella did a marvelous acting job as she held the outburst of laughter that nearly erupted inside of her. She noticed Troy's crossed fingers hiding behind his back as he seemingly sealed the deal with her mother.

----------

Jack looked at Lucille and rolled his eyes. "You were way too soft on him. Is he on his way back home at least?"

Lucille shook her head at his attitude. "If you even pretend to be angry with him when he walks in that door I will lock you out of the bedroom tonight."

Jack took a deep breath. She was right. All three of them had agreed that Troy had to try to fix this situation. The sooner the better, even if it was a school night. But he left the house nearly two hours ago. How long did it take his teenage son to say 'I'm sorry'?

Coach Bolton's demeanor had moved from relaxed to concerned to perturbed as various thoughts played their way through his mind. His wife watched him flip through the tv channels after helping her clear the dinner dishes. But when Troy's curfew came and went she watched Jack begin to pace.

"No news is good news." She had tried to reassure him.

The fifth time that he glanced at the clock she decided to call their son. "He'll be home in ten minutes. Remember that you supported him Jack. He came to you this afternoon and told you what was going on. If you jump him about being late after all he's gone through it'll just come back to haunt you."

Jack nodded. As usual, Luce was right. So he sat back down in the recliner and turned on the sports channel as he waited for Troy's return. Again, Lucille shook her head. She smiled softly thinking back to their teenage years together. _Exactly what did he do for me? _She tried to recall. _Ah, yes _she remembered_ he wouldn't give up. He was persistent…and charming…and…_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the front door opening. Lucille quickly moved to the living room beside her husband. Jack was trying his best not to be overly anxious as their son walked into the house.

Troy looked toward the living room. "Sorry, I lost track of time." He repeated, then turned as though he was finished talking to them.

"Troy!" Lucille finally raised her voice. After all the tensions of the weekend and his anxiety earlier in the evening she couldn't believe he was just going to walk away from them.

The 16 year old turned to look at his parents, trying to hold his happiness inside for just a few more moments. _Dramatic effect. Thanks Ms. Darbus._

"Well?!" Again his mother was reduced to one-word phrases.

Troy shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we're ok."

The deep, frustrated sigh finally escaped from his mother's lips. Troy and Jack smiled at each other and laughed. She really was such a girl!

Lucille turned her back on them and headed toward the kitchen. "I wish I'd had a girl." She mumbled.

"Mom…MOM!" Troy followed after her. He caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He gave her a strong hug from behind and buried his head between her shoulder blades. "Thank you."

The simple words melted her heart. But before she would admit that to her son she had to ask. "So are you going to tell me how it worked out, or do I have to pull Gabriella's number out of your phone and call her for details?"

Troy thought back over the past couple of hours. He had been playing this conversation over in his head during his jog home. He really didn't want to give his parents all the details. They didn't need to know that he could probably be charged with trespassing, stalking and practically breaking and entering. Did they?

The Boltons sat down in the kitchen. Jack and Lucille were simply happy to see a relieved and relaxed, normal Troy. They wouldn't press him for the details because many of them were written right there on his face.

* * *

This last part is a little bit of promotion for the new **High School Musical Fanfiction Awards! **((Thanks Pandora for the promotional words I'm borrowing here!))

**Nominations are currently being accepted**.

These awards are being hosted by the newly formed High School Musical fanfiction LiveJournal community, which you can find at **communitydotlivejournaldotcomslashintothelines** (replace the dots and slashes with punctuation...)

If you don't have an LJ account, it is really easy to set one up. You don't need to actually use your LJ to participate, but you'll need to be logged into LJ to be able to nominate and vote.

There are lots of really amazing authors out there who selflessly spend the little free time they have writing wonderful fanfiction for us all to enjoy. Show your appreciation and support by participating and getting behind the authors of your favorite stories.


	5. Conspiracy Theory

**It's amazing the kinds of things that one's mind can conjure up when you simply have time to daydream about stuff! Chapter 5 is a result of just that. I found this week that 'work' is even more fun when you have time to think about fanfictions for 8 hours at a time! ha ha!**

**Hope this one keeps the story moving. Thanks for all your comments, reviews, PM's and support. You all are feeding my addiction and helping me keep the Zanessa love flowing until we can see them together again. (Hopefully VERY soon!) Lovin' Zac's haircut! :)  
**

* * *

On Tuesday morning Troy had rushed from his father's car to the front of the school to meet Gabriella when she got off the bus. That was the last Jack had seen of his son.

Until, that is, he witnessed an unlikely group of students sitting in his gymnasium.

As Jack neared the group he could tell the conversation was far from basketball. Matter of fact, it was a conversation that seemed like it should be taking place in the Pentagon. This free-period was nowhere near the practice-filled workout for the Wildcat basketball team that Coach Bolton had expected.

He knew all of the students. Four basketball players, two science scholars – one of which he was quite sure was Gabriella, and a rather shy student who may have been a spy from Ms. Darbus.

The group was huddled around a laptop computer and what looked like a blueprint of some sort. As he got closer he noticed Chad grabbing the blueprint and rolling it up. And Taylor hurriedly moving her fingers over the computer keyboard to try and shrink whatever program had been on the screen.

"Where's the rest of the team?" Jack addressed Troy. He decided to try and let their guilty actions slide for the time being.

"Um, bunch of the guys needed to study for a chemistry exam so we just decided to go with the after school practice today." Troy lied. His straight face didn't go unnoticed by his father. Nor did the similar expressions on the faces of the other six students.

The extra practice had actually been blown-off because of yet another ordeal that had arisen over the musicale callbacks. The group had walked into the school that morning to find Kelsi staring at the callback announcement on the center bulletin board. The date had been changed to Friday, at the same time as the decathlon and the championship game. Impossible.

Troy had refused to let that fact bring them down. He had overcome the misunderstanding with Gabriella. She had opened up to him again and was trying to allow herself to make new friends. He wasn't about to let Ms. Darbus, or the Evans twins get in the way of this opportunity.

As he looked at his father his eyes pleaded with Jack to just leave them alone. The less his dad knew about this impromptu meeting, the better.

"Ok…." Jack said hesitantly. "Troy, can I steal you for a minute?"

"Sure, I guess. Will this take long?" Troy asked. They still had a lot of work to do but Troy knew he should go with his father.

"Nope, shouldn't take a couple of minutes." Jack then turned his eyes toward Gabriella. "Gabriella, isn't it?" He asked.

Gabriella's eyes grew wide as she looked at Mr. Bolton's unsmiling face. "Yes sir."

"Why don't you join us as well please." Jack instructed. He turned his back on the group as Troy and Gabriella got up off the bleachers. The coach smiled inwardly as he felt the teens following him across the gym floor toward the equipment room.

Gabriella looked at Troy with a worried look. "Now what did I do?"

Troy looked at her softly and held out his hand to her. He didn't know what his dad was up to but he knew he would be there to protect her, even from his father.

The three stepped into the equipment room and Jack closed the door behind them. He turned to see his son holding Gabriella's hand, both of them with confused and fearful looks on their faces.

Finally Jack smiled at them gently. He held his hand out toward Gabriella. "I owe you an apology." The coach started.

Troy felt Gabriella relax just a touch as she reached out to shake his father's hand.

Jack continued. "Can we start over again?"

Gabriella nodded. They both looked at Troy who had donned a wide smile. He put a gentle hand on Gabriella's shoulder.

"Gabriella, this is my dad, Coach Jack Bolton… Dad, this is Gabriella Montez, my detention buddy."

Gabriella gasped at the description he gave her. Jack and Troy both laughed. She smacked Troy on the arm after releasing Jack's hand. "Nice to meet you Coach Bolton." She tried to recover.

"You as well Miss Montez, um, Gabriella." Jack answered with a grin.

He watched as Gabriella smiled back at him and then turned her gaze to his son. Troy looked back at her and returned the smile. Jack immediately thought of his wife. _Luce is gonna be so jealous. I'll get to see them together everyday._

His smile grew as he thought about the stories Lucille would likely ask him every day as their son's relationship developed. _Better start taking notes so I don't miss anything._ He chuckled a little.

Troy and Gabriella turned their attention back to the coach when they heard him laugh. It was Troy's knowing cough that jolted Jack back to the moment. "Can we, uh, get back to, um, what we were doing?" Troy requested.

"Either of you want to share with me what you're up to out there?" Jack questioned as the smile drooped a bit on his face.

"No sir." They answered in unison.

Jack took a deep breath and pointed back toward the group on the bleachers. "Now I'm sure I don't want to know." He commented. "Go. Both of you."

As they started across the gym Jack remembered the other thing he needed to ask Gabriella. "Oh! Gabriella?" He caught her attention before they got too far away.

"Yes sir?" she stopped and grabbed Troy's hand again just for reassurance.

"Would you mind coming by our house sometime this week? My wife would really like to meet you." He smiled.

Gabriella blushed as she looked up at Troy and smiled. "I'd be happy to." She answered softly. She gave Troy's hand a squeeze and then turned her attention back to their free-period project.

Troy's heart jumped the second she took his hand. As they returned to their friends both of them looked much more content. No matter what happened this week they would be friends, perhaps more than friends, and they were going to be ok.

----------

Jack had the team start practice without him because of a teachers' meeting that afternoon. Troy and Chad could tell something was bothering the coach when he finally did make it to the gym. The team ran drills for over an hour, mostly under the watch of the assistant coaches and their captain, Troy.

As soon as Jack released them Troy followed his dad to his office. Jack sat down at his desk and looked up at his son. "They changed the callbacks to Friday." He said solemnly. "But you know that already, don't you?" He raised his eyes to meet Troy's.

Troy nodded but didn't add any comments. Jack sat for a minute and then shook his head. "I'm sorry Troy. If this weren't the championship game. If it was just a regular season game, I'd excuse you so you could try out. But I just can't let you out of this one. It means too much to the team, to the school." Jack leaned back in his chair waiting for some kind of reaction from his son.

Troy debated. A plan was already being put into place to try and make both events possible for him and Gabriella. But letting his father in on that plan could compromise his job. The teenage boy opted to protect his father. Detention and summer school possibilities for Troy were a far cry beneath the consequences for Jack.

"It's ok dad. I found out this morning. We found out this morning. Gabriella's affected too. That's the same time as the scholastic decathlon as well." Troy watched his father.

"And you're both willing to give this up? Just like that? After the whole mess with Chad and Taylor and Gabriella's hurt feelings?" Jack was a bit confused.

"Dad, honestly, that entire thing was more about Gabriella being new and needing friends. The music thing will happen or it won't. We still have another year. If we have to, we'll just do it then."

Jack noted Troy's stance. The boy was keeping something from him. But there was a reason he was hiding it. Pieces started coming together in Jack's brain.

He sat up straighter and looked at Troy with his arms crossed across his chest.

"This is what that little meeting was about in the gym today during free period, isn't it?" Jack pressed.

Troy shrugged.

"Troy, I don't like this. Forget me as coach. This is your dad talking now. Tell me what's going on."

Still Troy kept his mouth shut. He looked down at the floor, avoiding his father's eyes completely.

"Does your mother know about this?" Jack asked cautiously.

"No." Troy answered honestly.

"Go. Shower up." Jack watched his son walk out the door toward the locker room. He was not impressed by his son's ability to keep a secret from him. Nor was he impressed that a scheduling change - for no obvious reason - could potentially affect Friday's basketball game. He wasn't sure who to be angry with, Darbus or Troy.

----------

Troy and Chad waited with Gabriella and Taylor after basketball and decathlon practice finished. Honestly, decathlon practice had ended an hour ago. Gabriella and Taylor had used the past 60 minutes typing up a computer program on the laptop computer.

Maria was coming by to pick up Gabriella. Taylor was waiting for a ride from her sister and Troy and Chad were on hold while Jack finished up paperwork that he refused to take home.

The foursome was in a very serious discussion when Maria pulled up next to the curb and parked the car. She waited a moment and realized that Gabriella had not even noticed her presence from just inside the school's front doors.

Maria stepped out of the car and headed toward the school. As she opened the glass door Troy and Gabriella both saw her worried look. "Briella? Are you ok?" Maria asked as she looked toward Troy.

"The musical callbacks were moved till Friday Mom." Gabriella pouted.

"But that's the same day as the decathlon, and the game." Maria commented. "Why would they do that? Who would do that?"

Troy offered Mrs. Montez a soft smile. "That's just what we were trying to figure out." He fibbed as he stepped closer to Gabriella's mom. "Oh, Mrs. Montez, these are _our_ friends, Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie." Troy introduced.

Gabriella and Maria both noted how Troy called them 'our' friends. Troy wanted Gabriella to know that she was part of their group already. And Taylor noted that she was being included as well.

Maria stepped forward and shook hands with Chad and Taylor. "I've already heard much about both of you. It's nice to meet you." She smiled.

Chad chuckled. "Really? After what we put Gabs through, you think it's nice to meet us?"

Gabriella threw Chad a frustrated look. "My name…"

Chad cut her off. "I know, I know, your name is Gabriella. I just can't wrap my mouth around all those syllables at once. I need something simple to call you. Cause it sure looks like you're gonna be around for a while."

The entire group laughed at Chad. Troy put a hand on Gabriella's back. "He's not kidding you know. 'Hoops' was not my choice of nicknames yet he continues to use it. Nobody else uses it, just Chad."

Maria watched as Gabriella thought for a minute. "Well, I've been called worse. And as long as you're the only one who uses it Chad, I suppose I can go along with it. 'Gabs' just makes me sound really chatty." She pouted with a hint of a smile showing through.

Maria smiled as she witnessed the interaction. It seemed like her daughter had found her core group of friends. "So the callbacks? What's going on?"

Gabriella and Troy looked at each other. Maria noticed that Gabriella stepped closer to Troy and took his hand in hers before she spoke. As sweet as the gesture seemed, Maria knew her daughter was pulling strength from this young man, not exactly showing her affection for him.

"There are apparently a couple of other students who are worried that we might beat them out for the parts in the musicale. They have a pretty strong influence with the drama club sponsor and they convinced her to change the callbacks." Gabriella worked to explain.

Maria stepped toward her daughter to put a hand on her shoulder. Troy kept hold of Gabriella's hand but stepped behind her to make way for her mom. "So there's no bargaining about this? It's a done deal?" Maria asked.

All four kids nodded and looked at Maria with sad faces. "I'm sorry Mija. I know you were looking forward to this. And after all you've already been through." She looked her daughter in the eyes as the others cringed just a bit.

Mrs. Montez may have forgiven them for the weekend chaos, but forgetting about it would take much longer for Gabriella's mother.

"But you still have the decathlon, right? And then you'll try to make the end of the ballgame after that?"

Troy felt Gabriella's hand move in his grasp. She wasn't pulling away. So he looked down and noticed that this time, it was her crossing her fingers behind her back as she spoke to her mother.

"Right Mama. We'll just wait till next year and try the musical stuff, right Wildcat?" She looked up, over her shoulder at Troy's face. He nodded and softly smiled at Gabriella.

"Yeah. We'll get 'em next year." He too crossed his fingers as he spoke the words.

Chad and Taylor exchanged glances but said nothing. Mrs. Montez believed her daughter's fib this time. Although she had a feeling this quartet had something unfinished up their sleeves.

As their conversation finished another car pulled up behind Maria's. The horn blew and Jack rolled down the passenger window and motioned for Troy and Chad to get in.

"Oh, gotta go." Troy squeezed Gabriella's hand. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" he smiled at her again.

"Yeah, later Wildcat. See ya Chad." The ladies watched for a moment as the boys got into the Bolton's car and drove away.

Maria smiled at Gabriella and then looked at Taylor who had a smirking smile on her face as well.

"What?" Gabriella looked between her mother and her friend.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Taylor inquired. "And when did you start calling him Wildcat?"

Gabriella smiled at both questions. Her mother knew the answers to both, but Gabriella wasn't quite ready to share that information with Taylor just yet. She thought for another moment before answering.

"Seems like I've known him since kindergarten." Gabriella thought about one of her rooftop conversations with the sandy haired young man. "And the nickname just came to me last night." Gabriella continued smiling as her mother nodded at her.

Maria stayed quiet as she noticed both girls falling deep in thought. Just a few seconds passed before Taylor spoke up again. "Wildcat, huh? Wonder if that'll catch on?"

Gabriella snapped from her previous thoughts as she looked toward her friend. "It better not catch on. That's _MY_ nickname for him."

Taylor and Maria both raised their eyebrows and looked at each other as they noticed the possessiveness in Gabriella's voice.

Taylor was a smart girl; she caught the hint. Two people in this school would have nicknames for Troy Bolton. One was the curly haired boy who had been Troy's best friend since kindergarten. The other would be the girl who was seemingly Troy's soul mate from the beginning of time.

____________________________________________________________


	6. Operation Callbacks

**Hi all! When we last left our story Troy, Gabi and gang were trying to figure out how they were going to make the callbacks since the date had been changed. They hadn't told their parents about the plan...but parents being parents, Jack, Lucille and Maria know that something's going on. **

**As always, I own nothing HSM related and have the utmost respect for the actors, characters and the awesome production crew that brought this generation-changing phenomena to our lives! Read, enjoy and review! And thanks to all of you who have kept pushing me to keep this story going, I appreciate the encouragement!**

**Keep the Zanessa love flowing! -adc**

* * *

Jack seemed a bit stressed as he walked into the kitchen that evening. Lucille was working on dinner and noticed that one of her two favorite men was missing from the lineup.

"Where's Troy? Dinner will be ready in less than a half hour." She looked at her husband and noticed his concerned face.

"He got out at Chad's. Said he'd be home in a little bit. They're up to something Luce. And I don't like it." The look in Jack's eyes told his wife that he was a worried father, and coach.

"What happened? Did something happen with Gabriella? I thought all that was straightened out last night." Lucille pressed.

"Well she's involved, but this time she and Troy are in it together. As are Chad and Zeke and Jason…and who knows who else. This time it's like somebody is out to get them both and I'm afraid it has to do with my war with Darbus." Jack sat down heavily at the kitchen table and leaned his head back.

"What happened? You've got me completely confused." Luce asked as she placed her fingertips on his temples and gently started massaging. "What's happened since last night?"

"The callbacks for the show were supposed to be on Thursday. Apparently they are now changed to Friday, at the same time as the game and the decathlon." Jack closed his eyes for a moment and tried to release the tension by focusing on the gentle actions from Luce's fingers.

"But that would mean that Troy nor Gabriella could do the callbacks. Was this Ms. Darbus's idea?" Luce tried to ask gently but was beginning to feel Jack's frustrations.

"We had a teachers' meeting after school today. That's when I found out about the change. She said two of the drama club officers had made a request to change the callback date, and that she had agreed to their request." Jack leaned his head forward again and opened his eyes. He turned in his chair and looked up at his wife's face.

He laughed through his nose and tried to smile. "I tried to argue with her. Can you believe it? I tried to argue with Darbus. I told her and everybody else that changing the callbacks would knock Troy and Gabriella out of the running because they both have prior obligations that were happening at the same time. I thought Matsui would back me up and make her leave the date alone."

"Did you get any support from him?" Lucille put her arm around her husband's shoulders. She was in a bit of shock that he had gone this far to support Troy's new interest in music.

"He asked her again if this was her decision or someone else's. She said it was a decision made by the drama club officers. So he just shook his head and blew me off." Jack shook his head and leaned it against Lucille's hip.

"I tried. If Troy asks, I tried. I don't know what else to do. I can't let him out of the ballgame Luce, not this one." He thought back to the conversation he'd had earlier with Troy.

Lucille stilled her hand in his hair. "When did Troy find out about this? How is he taking the news?"

Jack sat up straighter. "That's the thing. Apparently he found out about it this morning. There was something posted on the bulletin board about the change. But he doesn't seem upset about it at all. And neither does Gabriella."

Now Lucille let go of her husband and looked him in the eyes. "You talked to them about this? Both of them?" Her eyebrows lowered as she watched his reaction.

His sideways smile led her to believe that this had been an up and down day for her husband. He had news to share besides the callback mess. Now Lucille wasn't sure what she wanted to hear first.

"Spill it Coach." She ordered her husband.

He loved it when she used his nickname. And for the first time in a long while, he wasn't quite sure how to react to it. So his smile widened, he stood up and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'm not sure where to begin. The mess and the girly ga-ga stuff all kinda go together." He walked to the stove and lifted a lid off the pot that was simmering.

"Try me." Lucille pushed.

Jack took a taste of the sauce and then quickly put the spoon and lid back down. "During free-period I walked into the gym expecting the team to be in there. Troy was in there with Chad, Zeke and Jase, but they were sitting on the bleachers with Taylor McKessie, Gabriella and another girl. I think her name is Kelsi, she's one of the artsy, drama kids."

Lucille shook her head at her husband's description but waved her hand for him to continue.

"So as I got closer to them they were all hovering around a laptop computer and what looked like a blueprint of some sort. When they saw me they rolled up the blueprint and shut off the computer. If I have to testify against them, that would be a guilty verdict right there." Jack rubbed his hands together. That sight would not leave his mind as much as he tried to push it aside.

"None of them wanted to say what they were doing so I just ignored it. Then I asked Troy and Gabriella to come chat with me a minute." He smiled again.

Lucille's smile grew as she watched his face, knowing she should prepare to hear his version of the 'girly ga-ga' stuff. So she hopped onto a barstool and leaned against the counter top.

"I apologized to her for being rude last week and I asked her if we could start over. Poor girl, when she first walked in she looked scared to death. And Troy looked like he would eat me alive if I dared say anything mean to her. I swear Luce, it was worse than the look you gave me the first time Troy fell off his bike and I told him to get back on." Jack stopped to take a breath.

"So he does care about her, doesn't he?" Lucille smiled again.

"Well if that look didn't tell me then the hand holding certainly did. And the way they looked at each other after we had made amends was pretty sickening, honestly." He shook his head remembering the silly grins that the kids had worn when they stared at each other.

When he looked again at his wife she was wearing a very similar grin on her face. Her eyes were sparkling and it took little imagination to figure out where her mind had wandered.

"Can we at least get them out of high school before you start thinking wedding plans? I'd really like to see Troy make it through at least four years of college too, wouldn't you? Besides, you haven't even met Gabriella yet. How do you know she's the one?" Jack teased his wife and snapped her back into reality.

"Is she pretty Jack?" Lucille smiled at her husband.

"Well, yes, she is quite a pretty young lady. Why?"

"And do they look cute together?" she continued her grilling questions.

"Do I look like your best friend Jill from 12th grade, Luce?" Jack countered. "I am not Mr. Matchmaker here, I'm the gym teacher and basketball coach."

Lucille stood from the stool and stepped directly in front of her husband. "Think back to 12th grade Jack. Do they look cute together?" She put both of her hands in his and held them as she watched his face.

Jack thought for a moment as he stared down into his wife's eyes. His smile grew as the words found their place in his memories. Lucille's smile grew at his realization.

"_They look cute together."_ Those were the words Jack's father had admitted to his mother right in front of Jack and Lucille. The words came just before Jack took Lucille out that evening more than 20 years ago…and proposed.

----------

"Do you want to tell me the truth now Gabriella?" Maria asked as they walked into their kitchen.

Gabriella tried to look at her mother innocently, but the fact that Maria had used her full first name was enough to frighten the girl. The ride home had seemed just a bit strained with neither of them saying much. And now she knew she was in trouble.

"I'm not sure what you mean Mama." She commented nervously.

Maria turned and looked at her daughter. She pulled one of the kitchen chairs away from the table and pointed at it. "Sit down." She ordered her daughter.

Gabriella did exactly as her mother told her to do. This was wandering into new territory for both mother and daughter Montez. The younger woman watched as her mother turned her back momentarily and looked up toward Heaven. She turned back around, crossed her arms over her chest and somewhat glared at her daughter.

"Your first day at this school, you got detention. Your third day at this school, you got detention. The first Friday at this school you came home crying. Yesterday a teenage boy snuck into our backyard, climbed the trellis _and YOU let him in your room_!"

Gabriella watched with widening eyes as her mother's voice became more frazzled and yet determined with each word.

"Today I pick you up at school and this same boy stood holding your hand while you lied to me." Maria worked to breathe and was trying so very hard not to overreact as this situation rolled around in her mind.

"But Mama, I didn't lie to you today. Troy and I, we'll try the musicale next year. Really, we will." She tried to interrupt.

"Gabriella I'm not naïve. I believe that you and he will try this again. But you haven't given up on the callbacks this time, have you?"

Gabriella stared at her mother for a moment before her eyes drifted downward. "No." she answered.

"As nice as Troy is, I'm not sure that I like the influence he's already having on you." Maria winced as she made the statement. First impressions were huge in her book and Troy had made an excellent one…even if he had technically broken some laws in the process. But even if she and Troy shared the same goal – Gabriella's happiness – they weren't taking the same path to reach it.

Gabriella sat quietly thinking about what her mother had just said. Not once in her teenage years had she been the subject of her mother's lectures. Not once had she felt her mother's disappointment, until now. Since coming to Albuquerque she had tried to lie to her mother twice, and twice she had failed.

"Do you have anything else to tell me?" Maria asked dryly.

"I'm sorry for lying to you Mom. I am. But I really think that the fewer people who know anything about this, the better we'll all be."

Maria looked at her daughter and shook her head. "I don't like this Briella. I'm not sure what to think about this situation except that I don't like it. I'm afraid for you. Whatever you're thinking of doing, could this affect your school future?"

Again Gabriella looked down. "I don't think so. Although it may buy me more detention time. Please trust me on this Mama, please?"

Maria sighed. "I want to Mija. For the first time in years though, I'm worried about your judgement."

Gabriella stood up and took her mother's hands. "For the first time in years, I have friends Mom. These friends are willing to stand up for me and help me accomplish something that I want to do. I trust them. Can you please trust me?"

"Where does Troy fit into this picture now?" Maria watched as Gabriella pursed her lips together and thought seriously about what she wanted to say.

"He's one of those friends. I trust him. I believe he wants what's best for me. I'm not sure why, but that's what I believe."

Maria pulled her daughter closer and wrapped her in a hug. "I do trust you, My Darling. And I'm thrilled that you have made these friends. I think I just need to get used to that fact. And it's going to take me a while longer before I trust them."

She pushed Gabriella away just enough to look into her eyes again. "I'm still your mother though. If you continue to lie to me, if you continue this rash of school detentions, or if I catch Troy climbing that trellis again…" Maria stopped for a moment and raised her eyebrows pointedly, "I will find it inside of me to take stronger action. Punishment hasn't been a word that I've even had to think about. But I'm not unfamiliar with it. Comprende?"

Gabriella nodded at her mother. Her stomach was turning flips inside of her as she soaked in the words that Maria spoke. She hoped and prayed that this plan would play out correctly so that she and Troy could keep themselves and their friends on the right track.

----------

Troy walked into his house to the sound of his mother giggling in the kitchen. He rolled his eyes. That sound usually meant one thing when his parents were alone. He walked toward the kitchen but didn't go or even look through the doorway.

"Guys! The kitchen? Really?" He paused for a moment to make sure his voice had registered with Jack and Lucille. "I'm home by the way."

Hugging, and ticklish kisses were the extent of Mr. and Mrs. Bolton's kitchen playtime. Their son didn't need to know that however. Jack relished in the opportunity to embarrass his teenage son, and took those opportunities whenever they came around.

"Geez! Troy! We didn't expect you home for another half hour." Then he purposefully whispered loudly. "Luce, hand me my pants. Your buttons are crooked." Both statements were meant to draw a reaction from their son.

They worked. "Don't rush on my account, please." Troy responded with a pout. "I'll be in my room debating whether I really want to eat dinner now or not."

Jack and Lucille laughed again and then smiled at each other. Lucille gave her husband one firm smack to the behind and then came back to their unfinished conversation.

"So, beyond Troy's love life…they've both accepted this callback change without an argument or fight?" She looked at Jack curiously as they both began to prepare their meal.

"That's the thing. They say they have. But I don't believe it. I talked to Troy a little after practice today. I asked him about the free-period meeting on the bleachers. When I asked if the meeting and the callbacks were connected he wouldn't even look at me." Jack sat the plates on the table and turned back to look at Lucille.

"I told him to forget me as coach and talk to me as his dad. He wouldn't do that either. I'm afraid they are coming up with some plan that is going to end up messing with their futures." Jack admitted.

"Like what?" Lucille wondered out loud. "Jack, they're in high school. And we're talking tryouts for a play here, not some hit list that's been discovered."

"I know. It's silly. But if you could've seen how seriously these kids were talking in the gym… And what worries me more is that you've got Chad's hot head, mixed with Troy's idea-filled brain and then Taylor McKessie is one of the smartest girls in school, along with Gabriella – I suspect… You put them together with some grunt work from the others I mentioned and who knows what they might try to pull off."

Jack's brain was obviously working in overdrive. Other times like these Lucille would laugh at her husband for over thinking situations. Right now, though, she wasn't sure what to think…but she wasn't laughing.

"What do you think they're going to do? Fashion some spectacular power glitch in the middle of the game that would send everyone into the auditorium just in time for Troy and Gabriella to perform their audition piece?" Lucille tried to joke.

Jack laughed just a little and finished putting the silverware by the plates on the table.

She stuck her head out the kitchen door and into the hallway just in time to hear Troy's cell phone ringing. Instead of yelling to him that dinner was ready she wandered the few feet down the corridor and stood outside his door.

_"You didn't tell her what we're trying to do though, right? Gabriella, seriously, you can't tell her."_

Lucille was intrigued by the little bit of conversation she was hearing. She didn't want to eavesdrop but after what Jack had just told her she was more willing to do just that.

_"I'm gonna have some serious making up to do with your mom if all this turns out ok, aren't I?"_

Luce hated only hearing one side of her son's conversation. But the next line she heard warmed and worried her at the same time.

_"Hey, don't. Don't worry about this. If something goes wrong then me and Chad and the guys take the blame for it. You and Taylor don't worry. We've got your backs."_

Lucille retreated to the kitchen. Now she was a bit worried as well. "Troy, dinner's ready. Come eat." She yelled down the hallway.

There was a pause before he answered his mother. She assumed he was finishing his call. "Be there in a minute Ma. Just changing clothes."

"Ah," Lucille thought, "Let the undercover games begin."

----------

"So your dad tells me he invited Gabriella over. Should we do dinner? Maybe we should invite her mom as well." Lucille started the dinner conversation.

Troy nodded but shivered a little on the inside. After what Gabriella had just told him, he was wading into sinking sand in his relationship with Maria Montez. Last night he enjoyed the brownies she had baked. Tonight he figured he'd better stay away from them because she would likely poison his portion.

"Um, I was just thinking that maybe Gabriella could come by and help me with my chemistry homework tomorrow or Thursday afternoon. You guys could meet and then we could study, you know." Troy attempted to please his mom.

"So I guess it'll be tomorrow then." Lucille spoke up. "Because the callbacks are on Thursday, right?"

Troy had walked into that one. The subject he so royally wanted to avoid was now right there in front of him. He glanced at Jack who was staring at the pasta on his plate.

"They switched the callbacks to Friday Mom. We can't do them because of the game and the decathlon." Troy watched as his mother looked at his father and attempted to act surprised. "Don't Mom. I know you and Dad have talked about this. So don't act surprised. I know you're not."

Lucille gave in to her son and nodded. "You seem to be taking this really well. Are you sure you aren't the least bit upset about it? Have you asked if you can try out another time?"

"We were upset at first. But then we realized that we will have other chances to try out, when basketball season is over and stuff. It'll be fine, really." Troy sounded sincere.

Jack stayed out of the conversation. It wasn't until their meal was almost done that he spoke up. "Troy. I just need you to know something." He kept staring at his plate for a moment until he was sure that Troy's eyes were on him. Once he was sure he turned and looked at his son.

"I respect that you want to try something new with this musical stuff. I trust you and your teammates trust you and apparently Gabriella trusts you. Whatever happens on Friday…just remember that."

"Dad, I will be in that game, 110%. I won't miss a minute of playing time because of the callbacks, I promise you that. And I promise I will do my best NOT to betray your trust, the team's, or Gabriella's."

With that Troy took his plate to the sink and headed back toward his bedroom. Lucille placed a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder knowing he was doing his best to believe their son's words.

She watched them both closely and decided two things. Number one…Troy was just like his father. And number two…she needed to meet the Montez women, both of them, soon.

**_______________________________________________________________**


	7. Meeting Mom

**Thanks to everyone who's continuing to follow this story! I'm loving your reviews; they feed my addiction! Again, I own nothing HSM except a few trinkets and posters. And I have the utmost respect for the actors, characters and everyone involved, including the awesome production crew who brought this generation-changing phenomena into our lives...along with Zanessa! KTZLF! -adc  


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After just a week at the school Gabriella had gotten used to Troy meeting her just outside the front doors each morning. So she was a little surprised when he wasn't there on Wednesday morning. She glanced around thinking she was missing him in the crowd of students but she didn't see his face anywhere.

She wandered by herself to her locker and was at least pleasantly surprised when a slip of paper slipped out of the open door. _"Sorry I'm not there, shooting free-throws in the gym. See ya in homeroom, on the roof at lunch and with Kelsi during free-period. –T"_

Gabriella smiled a little. She knew he was trying to make up for missing free-period practice. And she wasn't sure how they could cover their tracks on this callback plan if he didn't start going to that workout with the team.

Her mind drifted to the craziness that would be her second Friday at this school. She knew that her new friends were not the troublemakers at this school. Instead they seemed to be some of the most popular and smartest kids here. She wasn't quite sure how she had wandered into their circle or how that circle had formed. But what she had told her mother last night was true. She trusted them.

The warning bell brought her back to today. She made her way toward Calculus, her first class of the day. Taylor met her just inside the door with laptop in hand. "I finished it." Taylor tapped on the computer as she whispered to Gabriella.

Gabriella nervously bit her lip. There was no sure way to test the program that she and Taylor had come up with. She was quite sure that if anyone really started digging they would trace the 'issue' back to her and Troy. Even though Troy had assured her that he would take the blame if necessary, she was having second, third and fiftieth thoughts about this so-called plan.

Taylor held onto the computer as though it were made of gold. She assured Gabriella they would go through the lines step by step while the scholastic team was meeting that afternoon. Chad and Zeke were assigned to place some added equipment in the gym and electrical rooms. That would happen this afternoon before basketball practice. And, they would be able to send a test message of sorts before the day was out.

Gabriella wasn't quite sure how she managed to get through that first class. Her eyes kept looking at the laptop, then would stare at the equations on the board or at the instructor. The entire time her mind was on Troy, the callbacks, the plan, and…did she mention Troy?

When the bell rang she and Taylor stepped into the hallway and headed toward Mrs. Darbus's homeroom. "I'm a little scared at how well Chad and I work together." Taylor mentioned during their walk.

Gabriella smiled at her. "A jock with brains? Who would've thought?" They laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. But he follows instructions very well and he has some, well, creative ideas." Taylor smirked.

"Must come from all the spy movies that Troy says they've watched." Gabriella retorted.

"Ahhh, that would explain it." Taylor replied. "I knew he couldn't come up with some of that stuff by himself!"

"I just hope this second collaboration of yours will work out better, all the way around, than the first one." Gabriella commented.

Taylor nodded. "It will. Cause this time we're all working together for the right cause. You and Troy deserve a chance at this. As crazy as it sounds, you deserve it."

Gabriella smiled at Taylor as they walked into the homeroom class. "Thanks Taylor. That means a lot." They glanced to the back of the classroom where Troy and Chad were already hovering around Gabriella's assigned seat.

"Go." Taylor pointed toward the boys. "I can already see he's missing you." She grinned.

As soon as Gabriella made her way to her seat Troy put a hand on her shoulder and Chad moved down the row to his own desk.

"You ok?" Troy asked sincerely.

Gabriella smiled and nodded at him. "How was free throw practice?"

"Dad's watching my every move. Good thing we have help."

Gabriella nodded once more and looked toward the front of the class as Ms. Darbus made her entrance. "You'd better go sit. Neither of us can afford another detention right now." She smiled at him and nearly got lost in his crystal blue eyes.

"Rooftop at lunch?" He smiled at her hopefully.

"I'll be there Wildcat." She sighed and felt her face flush as the name rolled off her tongue.

Troy sat down, looked over his shoulder at her blushing face and grinned at her again. He liked it. He liked her. And this would all work out fine, because…well, he just knew in his heart, it was meant to be.

----------

Troy's cell phone buzzed in his pocket as he waited in the rooftop garden for Gabriella. _"Mom wants to know if Gab is coming over today?"_ He rolled his eyes at the text from his father. But he knew it was inevitable. Lucille wanted to meet this young lady before the week was out.

And, Troy thought it was a little unfair. He had met Gabriella's mom. Gabriella had met his dad. And, he nodded to himself, his mom was a lot more likeable than his dad.

"Lost in thought Wildcat?" came the voice from behind him.

"Hey there! Nah…just answering a message from my dad." Troy smiled at her as she came up the steps and sat down on the bench.

"Um, you wouldn't want to come over and help me study chemistry this afternoon after practices would you?" Troy asked randomly.

"Seriously?" Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows as she thought about the invitation. Troy watched her face as her thought process went through various questions that were obviously entering her mind.

"Honestly? My mom's a little jealous. Dad's met you. I've met your mom. My mom doesn't even know what you look like. She's very curious about the girl who sings with her only son." He smiled at her as her face softened to a shy smile.

"Ah. So that's what this is about. Does she want to meet me so she can lecture me about the chances of ruining our futures by not backing out of the callbacks?" Gabriella asked, only half jokingly.

"If she does I'll be right there with you. I'm sorry I wasn't there last night when your mom caught you." Troy sat down beside her on the bench.

"It was my own fault. I shouldn't have tried to lie to her. But I asked her to trust me, and us. And she's trying. I just really need to watch what I do the next couple of days Troy. I can't, _we_ can't, make any more waves than we already have." Gabriella looked up from her hands into Troy's eyes. Her plea was not falling on deaf ears.

"I know. And I agree. Listen… Let's make a deal right now. Our part in this scheme is done. Chad and Taylor owe us big time after last week's crap. So now, it's in their hands." He put his arm on the back of the bench and ran a finger over a strand of Gabriella's hair that was draped over the backrest.

"If things go like we want them to, then we get to audition in the callbacks. If not, then we do our best in the big game and the decathlon and we try singing again next year. " Troy watched her face as she felt him playing with her hair. She wasn't blushing or uncomfortable. But he could tell she was unsure about his simple gesture.

"Deal?" he asked.

Gabriella lifted her right hand and held it out toward Troy. "Deal." She sighed with a smile. Troy stopped toying with her soft curl long enough to shake her hand. He suddenly had the urge to pull her closer and place a kiss on her cheek.

Troy quickly pulled his hand away from Gabriella's as he felt the sweat forming on his palm. He wasn't quite sure where that last thought had come from but he knew for a fact that he was now blushing.

"You ok Wildcat?" Gabriella noticed the crimson tinge on his cheeks.

Troy prayed she couldn't hear his racing heartbeat. He worked to shake off the sudden nervousness that had taken over his mind and body. He curled his lips into a smile and brought his eyes back to meet hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey. Back to my original question. Feel like helping me with chemistry homework this evening?"

"You're persistent. That's one thing Mom likes about you." Gabriella remembered using that term to describe him to Maria.

"Is that a yes?" Troy continued.

"Mom's picking me up this afternoon. I'll call and ask her if she can drop me at your house. But how do we get there?" She wouldn't admit it to him, but she had his address memorized. And, she knew exactly which house it was. They passed it on the bus every morning.

"I have a better idea." Troy thought for a moment. "What if I bum a ride home from your mom and then she can just drop us both off. Then I can walk you home a little later after studying."

Gabriella felt the heat rising from her toes. She knew she was reading a lot more into this study session than she should. But this was Troy…asking her…to meet his mom. And he was offering to walk her home. Just the two of them, together.

Her throat was suddenly dry. This was Troy, and chemistry, and meeting his mom. What's the big deal? She tried to ease her own tensions. Gabriella took a deep breath and looked back into Troy's face. "Sure, that sounds good." Her voice spoke. "Let me call Mom and make sure it's ok with her. Are you sure it's ok with your mom?" Her heart was beginning to slow down allowing her to think a bit more rationally.

"My mom?" Troy chuckled. "She's the one who suggested it. I think we'll have a problem if you _don't_ come over." His cell phone beeped and he pulled it from his pocket. Gabriella watched him curiously.

"I set an alarm this time." Troy explained. "The bell's gonna ring in two minutes. That should give us enough time to get back downstairs and head to class." He smiled.

Gabriella just grinned at him, stood up and offered her hand to help him up from the bench. "Smart thinking." She commented. Troy noticed that this time she held his hand, and didn't let it go until they had reached the door and prepared to walk back into the busy hallways.

He would find another opportunity to give her that kiss, he decided. And next time he wouldn't let it pass.

----------

Maria smiled as she pulled up to the front of the school. Gabriella and Troy were waiting outside for her. She watched closely as Troy opened the front door of the car and took Gabriella's bag as she climbed into the vehicle beside her mother. Troy then climbed into the back seat.

"Hey you two," Maria glanced into the rearview mirror as Troy worked to buckle his seatbelt. "No added drama today, was there?" She watched again as Gabriella looked at Troy and they exchanged simple smiles.

"No, Mom. Just a simple day of Calculus, Chemistry, scholastic team and basketball practice." Gabriella fussed.

Troy laughed. "Oh yeah. That's a simple day in your book. Some of us aren't as gifted in those areas as others." He pretended to pout.

Maria liked the banter between them. It was as though they had known each other for years. Their comfort level was amazing with each other. She had really never watched her daughter interact with kids her own age except at scholastic competitions. She realized Gabriella had missed out on a lot in the area of friendships. Now, as a mom, she was seeing a new side of her daughter.

Troy kept picking at Gabriella along the drive. To Maria's surprise, Gabriella picked back. Each time Troy would try to tease her about being smart, Gabriella would reply with some comment about his 'jock' brains or his 'easy' class schedule. A couple of times, Maria noted, she left him nearly speechless. Yet, as Maria continuously glanced in her mirror, she could see the smile on Troy's face.

When they reached the Bolton's house Maria pulled into the driveway. Lucille had been waiting on them and immediately opened the front door. She stepped toward the car as Troy emerged from the back seat and opened the door for Gabriella to get out. Lucille and Maria both smiled at each other seeing the obvious signs of 'more than friendship' from their children.

As Troy and Gabriella rounded the front of the car Lucille turned her smile toward them. "You must be Gabriella!" she nearly glowed as she held her hand out.

Gabriella smiled shyly and took Lucille's hand. "Yes ma'am." She answered.

"I'm so glad to _finally_ meet you." She noted how pretty the young lady was and made a mental note to remind Jack to keep an eye on them at school.

Troy intervened. "Mom, you're gushing." He rolled his eyes and looked back at Gabriella, whose hand was still being held by Lucille. "Gabriella, this is my mom, Lucille Bolton."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Bolton." Gabriella grinned. She loved that Troy was nearly blushing as a reaction to his mom's enthusiasm. Gabriella looked back toward Maria and let go of Lucille's hand. Maria stepped out of the car for the introduction.

"Mrs. Bolton, this is my mom, Maria Montez." The two moms shook hands and shared soft smiles as they spoke for the first time.

Lucille noted, "Welcome to Albuquerque Maria. I have a feeling we're going to get to know each other quite well. And please, don't hesitate to give us a call if we can help you with anything."

Maria noted Lucille's friendliness and was quite pleased. "Thank you Lucille. I'm sure we'll need something sooner or later. It's nice to make some new friends that we can turn to."

They both noticed that Troy and Gabriella seemed anxious to make their way into the house. Lucille turned toward them. "Go ahead. You don't have to stay out here on our account. There's a veggie tray on the kitchen counter. Help yourself. Troy, share."

Troy looked back at his mom and rolled his eyes. Lucille continued. "Gabriella, I'm serious. He eats everything in sight. Smack his hand if he gets too greedy."

"Mom, please!" Troy protested. Gabriella looked at him and burst out laughing.

"That explains a lot." She giggled and poked her index finger into his stomach as Troy opened the front door for her. "I've heard your stomach growling a lot at school."

Maria and Lucille watched as the teens disappeared into the house. "Would you like to come in for a while?" Lucille invited.

"I appreciate the offer, but I still have a lot of unpacking to do. This will give me a little time to get my room straightened out. Briella's a big help, but I need to put my own touches into this one. We get to stay here a little longer than other places we've been." Maria shared.

"Well, I won't keep you then," Lucille stepped toward the car with Maria.

"Are you sure you don't mind Briella being over here?" Maria questioned.

"Absolutely not. Honestly, I was getting a little jealous. Jack gets to see them at school and Troy barged into your home last week. I was feeling a little left out." Lucille shrugged her shoulders as she admitted her feelings.

Maria smiled as she remembered how Troy actually had barged into their home. That wasn't something she would share with Lucille just yet. If Troy hadn't told them about climbing the trellis she would keep the secret for a little longer at least.

"Well, Troy tells me he will walk her home in a couple of hours. If that doesn't work, just have her call and I'll come pick her up." Maria climbed back into the car.

"Maria?" Lucille followed her and spoke through the open window. "Has Gabriella told you how she and Troy actually met?"

Maria nodded and smiled. "It seems like someone or something out there wants them to know each other, doesn't it?"

Lucille smiled back. "My thoughts exactly. I know we've just met, and the kids have only really known each other for a couple of weeks. But would you consider coming over sometime just to chat…about them?"

Maria nodded immediately. "I'd love to. And I think it's a good idea Lucille. I think our motherly intuitions are on the same wavelength already. It would be nice for us to get to know each other, so that we can keep a close eye on them."

Lucille agreed. Mom's intuition was a strong force. And hers and Maria's were both telling the women that their children were in store for a future, of some sort, together.

----------

Inside the house Troy had given Gabriella the nickel tour and the two of them had settled on the bar stools at the kitchen counter to enjoy the vegetables and dip that Lucille had set out for them.

"Ranch or bleu cheese?" Troy asked as he set the containers of dip on the counter.

"Ranch, definitely." Gabriella scrunched her nose up as he opened the other dip. "Tell me you don't each bleu cheese."

Troy scooped a hearty helping of the concoction onto his plate. "Why? What's wrong with bleu cheese Little Miss Chemistry?"

"You know why it's called that, right? Moldy, penicillin inducing, dairy product." She stuck her tongue out and made a gagging noise to get her point across.

Lucille walked in and glanced at her son's smirking face and Gabriella's contorted one.

"You make it sound so inviting and tasty. Here, try a bite." He dipped a piece of celery into the lesser-liked dip and then pushed it toward Gabriella's lips.

"Ugh! No way. Give me the ranch dip, please!" She insisted and covered her mouth with her hand to keep him from touching the covered vegetable to her mouth.

Gabriella grasped Troy's wrist and worked unsuccessfully to push it from her face. Lucille watched closely and was ready to intervene when Troy finally gave up and put the food into his own mouth. She watched closely at the unspoken conversation that was taking place at the counter.

The two teens were smiling at each other. When Troy handed the other container to Gabriella she purposefully covered his hand with her own before taking it. And as the young lady prepared to take a bite Troy watched her every move.

_Yep, they're studying chemistry. _Lucille thought to herself._ And they don't even need to open a text book._

----------

Two hours passed quickly. Jack had gotten home about an hour after the kids arrived. He noticed two things very quickly as he came in the front door. Gabriella and Troy looked very comfortable in the living room. His son was actually doing his homework out in the open. The coach then wandered into the kitchen where his wife seemed to be floating with a very content look on her face.

"Oh good grief." Jack commented as Lucille turned and grinned in his direction. "I thought only _I_ could put that kind of look on your face." He laughed.

Lucille walked over to her husband, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly on the lips. "I've just never seen Troy so comfortable around a girl. They've joked with each other, and picked at each other, and they've just sat in complete silence for a while. It's just a side of him that I haven't seen before."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Luce, don't let your heart get too far ahead of things. They're just getting to know each other, and they're only 16. Yeah, you and I may have had similar feelings, but we knew each other for years before anything happened."

Lucille's chin dropped just a little. "I know. But seeing them together…she's a very pretty young lady Jack."

He nodded and wrapped his arms around his wife. "Yes, she is. And right now she is a _friend_ of Troy's. Don't read too much into this, or your heart might get broken. I'm supposed to keep that from happening." Jack smiled.

"Ah, the voice of reason and reality. You can't keep me from daydreaming, you know." Lucille teased him. Jack just shook his head.

He took his wife by the hand and led her out of the kitchen and back toward the living room. Gabriella was trying to explain an equation to Troy. He was sitting on the floor with his head propped up in one hand, a pencil in the other tapping it on the table. Gabriella was sitting on the couch with her own book in her lap. She was leaning over his shoulder and pointing into his chemistry book on the table.

Troy shook his head. "I still don't get it."

Gabriella put her book to the side and slid down onto the floor beside Troy. She doubled her legs back under her and scooted toward Troy until she could see the book and his face. "Ok. Let's back up and start here. You get it up to this point, right?"

Troy nodded.

Jack and Lucille didn't say a word. They both noticed that neither child had flinched when Gabriella scooted closer. She was close enough that their legs were pressed against each other. And when she pointed toward the problem in the book, her dark hair passed extremely close to Troy's face. He didn't seem to mind in the least.

The parents watched as Gabriella worked to try and help Troy understand the lesson. What they saw was their son reach up and push the girl's soft curls over her shoulder. He was paying almost as much attention to her proximity as he was to the words she was saying. And, he was apparently enjoying both.

Surprisingly Lucille came to her senses before Jack did. She realized they were actually intruding on more than just a tutoring session. The kids were so into each other that they hadn't even noticed the adults in the room. Lucille cleared her throat a little and stepped closer to the couch.

Troy and Gabriella both moved to separate themselves but they didn't put a lot of effort into the move. "Sorry guys." Lucille spoke and tried to keep her smile soft, instead of the Cheshire-cat type grin that was dying to be set free.

"Dad's home and dinner's ready. We're having baked chicken. Gabriella, would you like to join us?" The invitation was a sincere one, and Gabriella felt more than welcome to stay, even with Coach Bolton present.

"Oh, I'd love to. I just need to call my mom and make sure it's ok." She looked toward Troy for his approval and smiled when she saw his nod and wink, meaning it was more than fine with him.

Lucille and Jack went back into the kitchen and started bringing the food out. "Well this should be interesting." Jack commented quietly.

"How do you mean?" Lucille questioned.

"This would just be a good time to ask them both point-blank what they are up to with the callbacks." Jack answered seriously.

"No." Lucille shook her head and raised her finger toward her husband. "Not tonight. This is my first chance to meet Gabriella and Troy's actually been out of his room the entire afternoon. It's been good so far. I don't want it ruined."

His wife's forceful answer was enough to make Jack throw his hands up into the air in surrender.

Lucille took a breath and smiled back at her husband. "Just because you screwed up your first impression doesn't mean I have to. I'd rather not have to apologize and start all over again with Troy's girlfriend."

"Luce." Jack scolded.

"Okay…" she gave in, "Troy's future girlfriend." And she stopped at that. Jack didn't even try to put in another word.

----------

Dinner went very well in Lucille's opinion. She had held Jack to two basketball questions and just a couple of others about the scholastic decathlon. The foursome ate and chatted about various things to get to know each other better.

Gabriella talked quite comfortably with Lucille about the many moves that she and Maria had made. Jack and Troy listened in to the conversation with Troy adding in some little tidbits that Gabriella had shared with him during their rooftop lunches.

Lucille and Jack were both quite taken with the fact that Troy had apparently listened very closely to the things Gabriella had told him. He seemed to know as much about her portable history as some lifelong friend. And Gabriella didn't seem to mind him interjecting as she spoke to Troy's mother. In fact to both teens, it seemed like a natural conversation.

After dinner Troy helped Gabriella get her books together and prepared to walk her home. Jack did his normal evening routine and plopped himself in the recliner in the living room to watch the latest sports news. Troy threw his father an odd look and then shook his head. "I'm gonna walk Gabriella home. Back in a little bit."

Jack looked at his son wondering what he had done. Lucille began to walk Gabriella toward the front door so Jack simply asked his son, "Now what'd I do?"

Troy huffed just a bit. "I was just gonna tell Gabriella 'thanks' for helping me with my homework today. That's all."

Jack shook his head and looked down to grab the remote control in order to hide his smirk from his obviously infatuated son. "You're walking her home Troy."

Troy turned his back on his dad and headed toward the door. When he reached his mom and Gabriella they all three heard a simple goodbye from the living room.

"Goodnight Gabriella. See you at school tomorrow. Troy, curfew's at 10. Don't forget this time."

Gabriella looked at Lucille and Troy and smiled. "Um, goodnight Coach Bolton."

Jack smiled to himself and then his mind wandered to another thought. _How long had it been since he talked to Troy about the birds and the bees?_ He shivered. _Was there a refresher course for father/son chats?_ Jack decided he would think about that later.

Lucille thanked Gabriella for coming over and assured her that she was welcome anytime. In turn Gabriella thanked her for the dinner and conversation. "Good Night Mrs. Bolton." Was returned with an invitation for Gabriella to call Troy's mom 'Lucille', which she gladly accepted.

As the door closed behind them Gabriella commented, "Well, that was fun!" She laughed to herself and then noticed Troy looking at her. "Sorry," she admitted, "Just thinking about how scared I was of your dad. He's really not that bad."

Troy smiled at her. They walked the two streets over with Troy pointing out some houses where their school mates lived. And he pointed out a couple of the yards they could cut through should he ever need to shave some time off his walk home. They laughed and continued the small talk until they reached Gabriella's front sidewalk.

"I hope Mom and Dad didn't embarrass you too badly tonight. Thanks for coming over and helping with homework…and staying for dinner. It was nice not being the only teen in the house." Troy smiled at her.

Gabriella shyly looked into Troy's eyes and thought for a minute. "It wasn't embarrassing at all. It was nice. I miss family dinners." She admitted quietly.

Troy grabbed one of her hands gently and looked down at her fingers in his palm. "You're welcome to come over anytime. You heard mom." He looked back at her face as they reached the front porch. "They aren't all like tonight though. You'd have to be prepared to talk basketball with Dad, or grades and classes with Mom. That's usually how they go at our place."

Gabriella didn't seem phased by the conversation topics. "Sounds good to me." She answered without even thinking.

Troy kept a firm grip on Gabriella's hand. Through the window he saw Maria move in the living room and figured she had heard them walk up on the porch. When the door opened neither of them was surprised. Maria smiled at them as she opened the storm door.

"Studying go well?" She asked and noticed the way Gabriella was looking at Troy along with their joined hands.

"Yes ma'am." Troy offered as a response. Gabriella just looked at her mom and nodded.

"Troy, would you like to come in? I don't have any brownies tonight, but I'm sure we could find something in the kitchen." Maria invited.

Troy shook his head gently as he thought about the thin rope he was already walking on with Mrs. Montez. "Thank you Mrs. Montez, but I'm good tonight, really." He smiled toward her.

He noted that she stayed in the door as he prepared to say good night to Gabriella. _There goes another opportunity to give her a kiss._ Troy mumbled in his mind. He certainly wasn't going to do it in front of her mother.

So instead Troy gave Gabriella's hand a gentle squeeze and then held the door open so that she and her mom could step back inside the house. "I'll see you in the morning at school." He grinned.

Gabriella looked back at him. "Free throw practice?" she asked, thinking that the coach may have made it a new requirement.

"Nah," Troy smiled. "That just threw my whole day off today. I'm gonna stick with the other routine I had going."

"See ya in the morning then." Gabriella responded. She would see him just outside the front doors, and was happy that he seemed pleased with their routine.

"Good Night Mrs. Montez." Troy said, nearly as an afterthought.

Maria glanced up at him again before closing the front door. "Good Night Troy. And why don't you call me Maria?"

Troy nodded and smiled a bit bigger. Perhaps that rope wasn't worn completely thin after all.

**________________________________________________________________**


	8. Friday

**This chapter brings us to the close of the original HSM. I have one more in mind to take this just a little further. Should I continue on (or attempt to) moving into HSM2 with the parental views? You know I love your opinions, and I'd certainly like to hear them before I start writing in that direction. Although, either way, I'll have to go back and watch the movie again! ;D**

**Thanks for all your support, for reading and reviewing and feeding my HSM & Zanessa addiction! As always, please read, enjoy and review or PM me...especially if you hear or see and Zanessa news. I'm starting to feel those Zanessa withdrawals again, so please, please help me KTZLF!!!!!** _**(Keep the Zanessa love flowing!) **_**-adc  


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Thursday was a somewhat normal day for Gabriella and Troy. Jack noticed another free-period meeting in the gymnasium, but this time it lasted only a few minutes before the rest of his basketball team made their way to the court. This time Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi stayed in the bleachers and watched the guys practice. Jack watched his team from the sidelines but he kept an eye on the girls too.

It certainly wasn't a closed practice. Anyone was allowed in the gym. A couple of other students were hunkered down at the top of the bleachers just trying to finish homework that was due the next period. Jack noticed that Kelsi, Taylor and Gabriella were near the bottom of the bleachers. The first two girls were looking through their history books. Gabriella's book was open too, but she never took her eyes off of Troy.

Jack kept the whistle between his lips to keep the smile from spreading. The dark-haired young lady was practically watching a tennis match. Her eyes followed his son up and down the court. She smiled each time Troy's shots swished through the net and Jack swore she nearly came out of the bleachers when the boy was fouled.

Troy easily jumped up off the floor and looked in Gabriella's direction. Jack blew the whistle as he watched Gabriella mouth '_Are you ok?'_ to his son. Troy smiled and nodded at her. Jack chuckled to himself. _With her in the bleachers, of course he's fine!_

When the team finished running drills Jack sent them to the showers. Troy, instead, headed to the bleachers. He took a seat behind Gabriella and glanced over her shoulder into the history book. She didn't seem to mind until his sweaty arm made its way over her shoulder to point at something in particular.

For a split second Gabriella felt a wave of heat run through her body. She knew she needed to react to Troy's closeness but she wasn't sure how. The heat wave was followed by his hot breath speaking against her neck. That triggered a cold chill that sent a shiver down her spine. He was asking a simple question about their lesson. It was a question Gabriella didn't even hear.

When she shivered Troy quickly retracted his arm. "Sorry, you okay?" He asked sincerely.

Gabriella looked back at him and nodded. She felt the blood rising through her face and looked back at her book. "You need to go shower." She ordered quietly.

Gabriella watched Troy smile at her and then head across the floor to the locker rooms. She thought about a couple of romance novels she had read…the cheesy kind, where the muscular man rips off his shirt and holds the beautiful woman to his heaving chest after fighting for her love. The thought of touching a guy's sweaty chest had been pretty repulsive as she read the novels. But all of a sudden, the one under that basketball jersey seemed quite appealing.

Jack watched from across the court. He would never admit it to his wife, but it appeared that she was right. Their son's quick-blossoming friendship with the new girl at school seemed to be destined for much more from the very start.

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Friday was a complete rush for all of the students. The thought of gaining control in the classrooms went out the window at the beginning of the day. Many teachers swore it was the day before summer vacation. There was no concentration on lessons at all. Three things were on students' minds… basketball championship, scholastic decathlon competition, and the callbacks.

Four students in particular had interests in all three of those competitions. Troy, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor were working hard to keep their nerves from taking over.

After first period all four of them made their way into Ms. Darbus's homeroom class. Their instructor watched with much interest as Zeke, the baker of the basketball team, Troy and Chad presented the girls with a 'Pi' cake that Zeke had baked. The amazed, studious girls squealed almost like cheerleaders at the delectable piece of art.

Then Ms. Darbus stood back as Taylor and Gabriella returned the favor with a bulletin board equation that equaled a scientific cheer of encouragement for the basketball team. Then, much to the teacher's surprise, the entire basketball team came together with t-shirts spelling out a message for the theater students, 'Go Drama Club!'

Her response was simple. "Looks like we're all in for an interesting afternoon."

Just like the other teachers, Ms. Darbus knew she had little control over the students, even in her homeroom class on this particular day. She quickly took role and attempted to go over the announcements. After getting through the shrieks and cheers that came with each activity announced, she gave up. With tea in hand she sat down in her chair and let the students have their way.

Troy took the opportunity to find a moment away from the excitement with Gabriella. He traded seats with Jason in order to sit by her and then proceeded to move the desk even closer to her.

"So, you ready for the decathlon?" Troy smiled as he bumped the desks together.

Gabriella glanced at him and then back down at the music score hidden in the folder on her desk. "The decathlon is the least of my nervousness." She admitted.

Troy knew immediately that she wasn't trying to be a smart alec. Nor was she trying to flaunt her intelligence. The information in the decathlon came naturally to Gabriella. She could answer many of the questions in her sleep.

"Well okay then G. where are the nerves coming from?" Troy knew exactly why the butterflies were flying in her stomach. It was the same reason that his were flitting about.

Gabriella looked at him. "Who's G.?" she turned the subject around.

Troy's eyes widened. "Oops, did I say that out loud?" He smiled, but Gabriella noticed as his cheeks turned pink.

She let her eyes go again to the folder on her desk. At the moment she was worried that the name he had called out might stand for something derogatory about her. She didn't look back at Troy. He noticed quickly that she was pulling back into her shell.

"Gabriella, no, it's nothing like that." Now amid the chaos in the room Troy's nerves were feeling even more chaotic. He took a deep breath and leaned toward her with his mouth nearing her ear. "G. … It's your first initial. I thought maybe I could use that as your nickname. If you're gonna call me Wildcat then you should let me have a name for you too."

Gabriella turned back to look at him. "Are you sure it's just G for Gabriella, and not like Geeky Math Girl or something like that?"

"Well, I guess it could be that." Troy shot a smile in her direction as he watched her pout. The smack on his arm led him to admit a little more. "Or, it could be for genius, or gorgeous, or girlfriend..." His voice got softer as he continued searching for descriptive words that began with 'g'.

Troy leaned back to watch for her reaction to the last word he had mentioned. Gabriella didn't move. She let Troy's words go through her mind nearly a hundred times before she turned to look at him. And even then she wasn't sure what to say.

"What?" was the only word that would come to her mind. So that's what came from her mouth.

Troy ran a single finger over her hand that was sitting still on top of her desk. "You've got a nickname for me. Your mom's got a nickname for you but that's a special one, I can't take that. Even Chad has a nickname for you. But you told him that he was the only one who could call you Gabs. So I've been racking my brain for nearly a week now trying to figure out a nickname for you that could be just mine."

Gabriella blushed. "I get that part Wildcat." She said softly and looked into his eyes. "You know what I was asking. What was that last 'g' word you said?"

Troy suddenly felt his mouth go dry. This wasn't a conversation he had wanted to have in a room full of chaotic students under the eyes of a teacher who fully enjoyed sending him to detention. But it was a question that he'd wanted to ask her for several days. He just hadn't had the nerve.

"It was 'girlfriend'…like, 'will you be my…girlfriend'?" Troy realized they had only known each other for two weeks but they had already been through enough drama. He wanted Gabriella to know that he was serious about helping her, being a friend to her, and watching out for her. In his mind those were just a few things he could do for Gabriella…as her boyfriend.

The shy look on Gabriella's face told Troy that she was considering his question. "Why me?" she asked him.

"Because…" Troy hesitated. There were so many reasons he wanted to tell her, but again, the chaotic room wasn't really the atmosphere where he wanted to share with her. "Because I think we make a good team Gabriella Montez. We can work together, joke together and even sing together. And that other 'g' word…I think your gorgeous."

Gabriella blushed and looked away from Troy and around the room. Somehow, in her ears, all of the noise had stopped when Troy had started talking. Now she was hoping her analytical mind wasn't playing tricks on her. She felt like everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to answer Troy. In fact, the only one looking at her _was_ Troy. He was waiting for that answer.

She turned back and looked at his face. He looked almost scared until she nodded. "You are the only one who can call me that. You know I don't really like nicknames." Gabriella finally said to him.

Troy smiled one of the biggest smiles in his life. "So that's a 'yes'? He had never asked a girl to be his girlfriend. He had never given a girl a nickname. In fact he had only asked a couple of girls out on dates and those had ended very platonically.

"Si." She answered with a grin.

"Huh?" Troy's eyes widened.

"That's 'yes' in Spanish Troy." She giggled at him.

He smiled a grateful smile back in her direction. "I'm not good with other languages. You should probably know that." And to that, Gabriella nodded again as she pretended to write that fact in her notebook.

For the third time in just a few days Troy had that urge to lean over and kiss Gabriella on the cheek. But as he began to lean in her direction Gabriella sat straight up in her seat and pointed toward the front of the class. "Darbus!" she squealed and squeezed Troy's hand firmly.

Sure enough, the drama teacher's eyes were staring directly at them. Without a word the instructor put her hands together, pointed them at Troy and Gabriella and then pulled her hands apart.

Troy understood completely. He quickly moved Jason's desk back into its rightful place and stood to return to his seat. "Okay G." he smiled again. "We'll continue this a little later. Maybe tonight, after the game and the decathlon?"

"And the callbacks?" Gabriella mentioned.

"And the callbacks." Troy noticed her smile and the slight blush that was still on her face. _Yep,_ he thought again, _'g' is for gorgeous, good looking, genius, Gabriella…my girlfriend!_

He sat back down in his own seat and looked over his shoulder. As expected Gabriella's eyes were still on him. They shared a smile and then worked to concentrate on the day's events. The afternoon was shaping up to be one of the biggest in either of their lives.

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Jack rubbed his hands together nervously as he led his team out onto the court for the championship game. As the team was introduced he took a minute to look up into the bleachers. About halfway up on the home side, wearing her favorite red and white Wildcats sweatshirt was his wife.

Luce caught his eye and blew a kiss in his direction as Jack smiled at her. She didn't expect anything more in return. This game belonged to Jack and Troy. She was happy to be there to support them both.

Lucille had noticed the Twinkle Towne callback flyers that were posted in the school hallways as she came through the doors for the game. Each flyer included a smaller slip of paper taped over the original date. In the back of her mind she wondered what Troy, Gabriella and their friends had cooked up for this afternoon. As the coin was tossed on the court Troy's mother tossed up a prayer that everything would go in their favor…on all counts…this afternoon.

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On the other side of the school Maria wandered into the Chemistry lab where the Scholastic Decathlon was taking place. The room was set up almost like a miniature college lecture hall with risers in place for parents and observers to have a good view of the competition.

Maria had also seen the Twinkle Towne flyers. Before she was seated on the risers Gabriella jumped from her seat with the team to give her mother a hug. "You made it!" Gabriella beamed.

"Are you doing ok Briella?" Maria noticed the twinkle in her daughter's eyes. "Anything you need to tell me?" the mother prodded.

Gabriella smiled. "Yes, but it'll wait. I think you'll like it." She grinned.

"Does this have to do with the Twinkle Towne callbacks?" Maria asked trying to get any bit of information from her daughter.

Gabriella shook her head. "Nope." And she left it at that.

Maria shook her head at the girl and went to find a seat. She watched her daughter intently as Gabriella took her seat again next to Taylor and the other team members. Gabriella's normal, serious, decathlon face was not in place today. Instead, Maria saw a teenage school girl with a giddy smile. Gabriella's mother wasn't quite sure what was going on. That still had her a bit worried. But one word kept coming to her mind as she watched her obviously happy daughter, 'Troy'.

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The halls at East High were eerily quiet. The basketball game was underway. The scholastic decathlon battle was being fought. And the callback introductions were beginning.

In the Chemistry lab Gabriella and Taylor were watching the clock closely. Gabriella took her place at the white board and etched out the answer to the first question in record time. She hit the stopper and waited as the judge went over the equation. Once the points were awarded to the Wildcats Gabriella shook hands with the opposing team member and took her seat.

With the judge's back turned Taylor quietly opened the laptop. Maria watched the two girls skeptically. She knew this had nothing to do with the competition. Taylor hit a few keys on the computer and then closed it again. She and Gabriella looked at each other and then back toward the judge as the competition continued. Maria held her breath…but nothing happened…or so she thought.

Meanwhile in the gym Wildcat fans were watching a closely matched war. Lucille was like the rest of those dressed in red and white. She was on the edge of her seat cheering her son and his teammates. She was waving her pom-poms and letting her eyes jump back and forth from the court to the scoreboard.

That is, until the scoreboard flickered and the lights went out.

Gasps were heard in the crowd. Light filtered in from the windows at the top of the gymnasium and emergency lights came on. But it wasn't enough to let the ball game continue. Lucille's mind suddenly drifted back to the conversation she and Jack had had earlier in the week_. "What do you think they're going to do? Fashion some spectacular power glitch in the middle of the game that would send everyone into the auditorium just in time for Troy and Gabriella to perform their audition piece?"_ Lucille's attempt at humor filled her ears again.

Principal Matsui made his way to the commentator's stand and took the microphone. "We need an orderly exit from the gym until we can get this figured out. Everyone can make their way to the auditorium and we will let you know when the game is set to continue."

Jack looked into the stands. Lucille looked down open-mouthed at her husband. They both looked out on the court just in time to see their son hurriedly making his way off the court and out of the gym. The parents looked at each other again. They knew exactly where Troy was headed.

Back in the Chemistry lab another bit of drama was playing out. Just a few minutes after closing the laptop, Taylor opened it again. This time she and Gabriella quickly covered their noses and mouths after the computer snapped shut. All of a sudden a beaker of liquid on a hotplate gave off a putrid smell.

Maria noticed that her daughter and friend were the first people out the door of the lab. As the smell spread everyone stood and listened to the choking voice of the East High scholastic team coach as she instructed everyone to make their way to the auditorium.

Gabriella's mother shook her head as she held her breath to avoid the smell. _The auditorium. I should've known._

----------

Two blurs of red and white made their way down the aisles of the auditorium minutes after the first couple had finished. The Evans twins had smiled as the call went out for 'Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez'. Their names were called twice and even with the time-consuming plea from Kelsi, Ms. Darbus was unwilling to wait any longer. Kelsi ran from the stage humiliated.

But now here they were, on stage, sandwiching the drama teacher between them with urgent, begging requests to let them perform. "As I've said before, the theater waits for no one. I called your names…twice. And besides…we don't have a pianist." The teacher informed.

"We'll sing without a pianist." Troy answered her nearly daring her to disagree.

From the back of the auditorium students and parents started filling the seats. Everyone on the stage…minus Troy and Gabriella…stood in awe of the sudden audience.

Within mere moments three things changed. Gabriella's look of hope turned to fear. Kelsi appeared back on the stage with a strong suggestion for the Evans kids to 'back off'. And, Ms. Darbus gave in to Troy's demands. She knew in her heart and head that these two students deserved a chance, and this was it.

Troy handed Gabriella a microphone and waited for Kelsi to start playing. Gabriella's fears hitched in her throat. Even with Troy by her side she was scared. "I can't do it Troy. Not with all these people watching."

Troy wasn't about to let her give up this dream. Not after all they had been through together. So he took her hand in his and lowered the microphone to speak to her. "Hey, just like the first time we sang together. Just like kindergarten."

Gabriella looked at him with fear in her eyes. The last thing Troy mouthed to his new girlfriend before the piano music started again was one letter. "G."

The two held hands and started the song with soft but sure voices. Looking into each other's eyes, Gabriella's strength grew. Her Wildcat had encouraged her yet again. And today she was his too. "G."

By the second verse of the song Troy was moonwalking across the stage and Gabriella had shed her lab coat in order to make her way around the set pieces. Together they were 'Breaking Free,' the title of the song they were singing.

From one of the last rows of the audience Lucille Bolton sat with tears streaming from her eyes. Her heart was pounding as she sat on the edge of this seat as well. She turned to see her husband standing in the shadows of one door to this theater. In the other door, Lucille's new-found friend, Maria was watching in awe.

The three of them couldn't tear their eyes away from the stage. As the audience began to clap, and stood to dance along with Troy and Gabriella, Jack looked around. All the excitement, all the applause was for his son. And it wasn't his son the basketball dude, it was his son the singer.

Jack felt a surge of pride run through him. He wandered up the aisle to sit beside his wife and slid in gently beside her. "Your son's a good singer." He commented and saw Lucille wipe a few tears from her cheek.

"_Your_ son has apparently pulled off something that has affected this whole school." Lucille noted.

She tugged on Jack's jacket and pointed to the opposite door where Maria was still standing in shock. Lucille moved through the seats until she caught Maria's eye. She motioned to Gabriella's mother. "Come, sit with us." She smiled.

Maria came down and stood next to Jack and Lucille. They smiled at her. "This is my husband Jack." Lucille introduced and waited while Jack and Maria shook hands.

"Gabriella has a beautiful voice." Jack commented and smiled at Maria.

Maria looked back at him. "She wouldn't be up there if it wasn't for Troy. He has an amazing voice. Gabriella says he's a good friend, and she trusts him. That means a lot."

The three looked back at the stage as the song finished. Troy looked at Gabriella and realized it was finally his chance. He stood directly in front of her, leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. They looked at each other and continued to hold hands, smile and blush as the crowd erupted in applause and cheers once again.

Jack swallowed a small knot as he looked toward his wife and Mrs. Montez. "I, uh, sure hope they don't get detention for this." He tried to play the concerned father.

Lucille looked up the aisle where Ms. Darbus was also clapping and watching the couple on stage. "If they do, it won't come from her." She pointed.

Maria tiptoed to see where Lucille was pointing. "Is that the drama teacher?"

Jack and Lucille nodded together.

Maria smiled. "Remind me to thank her for giving Gabriella detention."

The Bolton parents looked toward Maria with wide eyes. "I think the punishment taught our detention buddies some lessons, like the fact that they might enjoy something more than basketball and science."

Jack nodded and then felt his phone buzz against his hip. "Hmmm." He commented as he read the incoming text. "Amazing. Apparently the lights and scoreboard are working again." He looked down at his wife and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I gotta run. See you back in the gym. Troy better not miss any playing time. He promised." He raised his eyebrows as Lucille and Maria laughed.

Lucille leaned toward Maria. "They make a cute couple, don't you think?"

Maria smiled and looked at Troy and Gabriella as they held hands on stage and were surrounded by their classmates. "I think you're right." She commented. "They look cute together."

Lucille's smile widened. "My thoughts exactly."

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In the last time out of the game Troy stood on the sideline looking around. He had no clue how long a scholastic decathlon would take to finish. He knew Gabriella said she would try to get there for the game but he had been so wrapped up in playing that he hadn't noticed if she came in or not.

Player number 14 was trying to listen to his father, but his eyes searched the stands. "Troy, are you listening to me?" Jack knew exactly who his son was looking for.

Before turning his eyes back toward his father and teammates Troy caught sight of two pairs of brown eyes. Both were staring straight at him, along with the green eyes of his mother who was stationed right next to Maria and Gabriella Montez. He smiled with excitement and looked back down at the coach.

"Can we finish this game now?" The question didn't come from Jack, but from Chad who was urging Troy to get his head back in the game. "Just a few more seconds Dog. The game'll be done and you can go see her." His best friend ribbed.

Troy smiled at them all. He'd take the ribbing this time. "What's the play?"

The team made its way back onto the court and waited for the inbound pass. Troy's adrenaline was pumping for more than just the game now. He eyed the opposing players and knew there was just one shot left to take.

With the ball in the Wildcats' hands, the red and white teammates made their way down the court. Precious seconds were ticking down as the ball made it to Troy's hands. He faked left and propelled his body and the ball into the air.

The swish of the ball into the net pulled Wildcat fans out of their seats and onto the court. A championship victory was the perfect addition to this perfect day.

Jack held back the proud tears that were lingering in his eyes. He watched his son being lifted by his fellow players and couldn't help but feel the rush of the win. He knew Troy was feeling it too. So as the elder Bolton accepted the championship trophy he made his way onto the court to present it to his son.

Troy raised the trophy high above his head as he sat perched in his teammates grasp. The view was pretty good from on top. And it gave him a good opportunity to look back into the crowd of fans who were making their way out of the bleachers. This time he couldn't spot Gabriella. He hoped she wasn't already making her way out of the building to her mom's car. Troy had other plans for this championship evening.

The team captain allowed his friends to set him back on the ground and he gave up the trophy. As numerous people passed him, offered him congratulations and high-fives, he still was looking for just one person. The slender arms finally found their way around his neck, surprising him from behind.

"Congratulations Wildcat!" She chirped into his ear. Gabriella felt her hands tingle as she finally got to touch the skin that had looked so tempting after his practice yesterday. The feel of his slick skin under her fingertips made the young lady's heartbeat even more rapid.

Troy turned in her grasp and Gabriella let her hands fall to his biceps. "What about your team?" He questioned quickly.

"We won too!" she beamed as he wrapped his hands around her elbows and pulled her a bit closer.

Neither of them could say anything else. They both realized that the moment had arrived for them to show their attraction to just about anyone who was watching them. Troy pulled Gabriella even closer to him and felt her grip tighten on his arms.

Just as they both began to close their eyes and prepared for their lips to meet a dark arm came between them. The smile on Chad's face told them both that he knew exactly what he had just interrupted. The disgusted look on Troy's face told Chad that he would feel retribution.

The forced smile on Gabriella's lips spoke a thousand words to both of the boys. For Chad, he knew better than to even speak her name…or nickname. For Troy, the look meant he'd better make their first real kiss happen soon…or Chad would feel even more pain.

What none of the teens heard was the comment that came simultaneously from the mouths of the Bolton parents with one Maria Montez standing near by, "Damn it Chad!"

**________________________________________________________________**


	9. KISSING

**First and foremost, I own nothing of HSM except a few trinkets, DVD's, 'action figures' (ha ha) and a LOT of great memories. I hold the utmost respect for the actors and actresses who portrayed these characters, and the awesome production crew that brought this generation-changing phenomena, and Troyella/Zanessa, into our lives!**

**With that said, please forgive me for jumping around over the next few chapters of this story. This one jumps to the end of HSM3. The next may be somewhere in the middle of #2. I just want to say Happy Anniversary to HSM3. It's been a year ago this month since the movie hit U.S. theaters. I'm proud, yet still a little embarrassed, to say that I got to see it 14 times in the theater! There's nothing better than Troyella/Zanessa on the BIG screen! :D**

**So now, if you can forgive me for the huge gap in the time frame (both in the story, and in the amount of time it's taken me to update) then I hope you'll enjoy reading. As always, feel free to review, PM or e-mail me. Any and All Zanessa chatter is welcome. And I sure appreciate the input on these stories as well. KTZLF! -adc  
**The hour after the Senior Year Musical's opening night performance was more of a 'Welcome Back Gabriella/Congratulations Gabriella" party. Troy had stayed by her side for the first half hour keeping a hand on her shoulder or just holding her on his lap. He hadn't said much at all during those 30 minutes. He simply smiled each time someone new approached his girlfriend to hug her and chat for a few minutes.

* * *

To Gabriella's disappointment he had made an excuse about needing some water and left her with Taylor discussing the intricacies of college life. It didn't take Taylor long to notice that Gabriella wasn't into the conversation. And it didn't take Gabriella long to notice that Troy was simply standing in a corner of the room with a bottle of water watching her.

She smiled in his direction and quirked her finger encouraging him to come back to her. Troy just smiled back at her but shook his head. So Gabriella did her best to chat with Taylor and other friends who joined the talk.

Finally Gabriella excused herself and wandered to Troy. "Can we go?" she held her hand out and accepted the bottle of water that he had been nursing and turned it to her own lips.

"You sure?" Troy watched her with arms crossed across his chest.

She nodded and handed the bottle back to him. "Let's just leave before anybody notices." Her unsmiling face told Troy that she wasn't joking. Something was on her mind but she didn't want to share it just yet.

So he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and sent a quick text to Chad. '_G's tired. Heading back to my house. C u 2moro.'_ He flipped the phone closed after showing it to Gabriella, took her by the hand and headed toward the back doors of the school.

Troy opened the door of the battered white truck for his girlfriend and allowed her to silently climb inside. The past few hours had been a complete rush of adrenaline. Arriving back at the school after a 15 hour road trip…performing in the musical…seeing her friends again…and realizing that in just two days she would be gone again.

He climbed into the driver's seat and buckled his seatbelt before pushing the key into the ignition. "You didn't want to say 'Goodbye' to them did you?" he finally voiced his thoughts while looking towards her.

Gabriella shook her head and started biting her thumbnail as she turned her head away from Troy and looked out the passenger window.

"You're here for the weekend you know. We didn't talk about it but you're flying back to California on Sunday afternoon. And we've got the show again tomorrow night." Troy wasn't just trying to make conversation. He was informing himself and Gabriella of the agenda that they hadn't even thought about discussing.

Gabriella continued looking out the window. "Sharpay can play my part tomorrow night. I can't do it again."

"Gabriella." Troy started then stopped. He knew she was already crying. He took a deep breath as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward the Bolton house. Instead of attempting to gain her attention he reached across the seat and rubbed a strong hand over her shoulder. "I can't do it without you." Troy said softly. "I'm not letting you say goodbye."

Gabriella's shoulder tensed a bit more under his hand when she heard his words. Then she intentionally tried to relax knowing Troy was right there beside her. The rest of the short drive continued in silence. She watched out the window until they turned into the Bolton driveway.

She heard Troy sigh again as he moved the gearshift into 'park' and unbuckled his seatbelt. Gabriella turned and looked at her boyfriend who simply smiled gently at her and then climbed out of the vehicle. She didn't move until he appeared at her window and opened the door for her to exit.

Gabriella unbuckled her belt, turned her legs over the edge of the seat and started moving toward the door. Before she let her feet hit the ground she looked at Troy who was holding the door open. She sat for a second pursing and relaxing her lips as though she wanted to say something. Troy simply waited.

"Troy? What did you mean, in the show, when you said that I inspire your heart?" She finally asked. She noticed his confused look and thought again about what she had asked.

Troy thought he had been pretty clear when he announced to the audience, including his parents, that he would be attending the University of California, Berkeley. He had brought tears to Gabriella's eyes when he told everyone in attendance that he had chosen that school so that he could be closer to the person who 'inspired his heart'…that person was Gabriella Montez.

Those lines weren't written in the script. Mrs. Darbus had no clue what he was going to say when it was his turn to speak. Troy had actually just come up with the words he wanted to use during the last hour of the drive home, while Gabriella was sleeping against his shoulder in the cab of the pickup truck.

----------

_Basketball superstar Troy Bolton had been dealing with overwhelming emotions since the dark-haired girl had sang karaoke with him a year and a half before. The emotions rolled on when she showed up at his school after the holidays. His inner battle had raged when she left him for just over two weeks during the summer. And a pure sense of emptiness had claimed his heart when her voice had cried to him over a phone line earlier that very week._

_The emptiness had sent him driving, in his unreliable truck, to see her again. He hadn't allowed her to say goodbye to him the night they shared a picnic in her bedroom. And try as she might, he wasn't about to let her say goodbye to him over a phone line._

_Troy was bound and determined NOT to be a goodbye in her life._

_It was in that pickup truck on the drive back home that he realized why. She had said it to him in her phone conversation. She had summed up the past seventeen months of this emotional roller coaster that was his life, in four simple words, 'I love you Wildcat'. _

_With Gabriella's head against his shoulder Troy sucked in a long breath and turned his eyes from the road just long enough to place a soft kiss against the top of her head. 'I love you too Gabriella.' He finally let the words come from his heart._

_She hadn't heard him; she was sleeping. Troy knew he couldn't say those exact words to her in front of everyone at the school. They all suspected it but he couldn't let that part of his emotions, their emotions, come out as a line in a musical. So he had concentrated for a solid hour on finding the right words to try and convey his feelings to Gabriella, and the audience, without breaking down in a tearful proclamation of his heart's desire._

_Instead, in those 60 minutes, he decided to use the heartfelt words he had spoken so eloquently. It was completely true. She inspired his heart._

_----------_

"I…" he stuttered as he stepped around the truck door and helped her slide her feet to the ground. Troy noticed when she shivered and moved closer to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders that were somewhat exposed to the evening air. "You're cold, come on." He avoided her question momentarily and led her toward the back yard.

"You didn't answer my question Troy. And why aren't we going in the front door?" Gabriella leaned against Troy's arm and held his hand as they moved through the back gate and across the basketball court that took up most of the yard.

"We're just going to check in with Mom and Dad and Maria, get a jacket for you and then go up to the tree house." Troy informed her, still avoiding the main question.

"My mom's here?" Gabriella was a bit surprised.

"She's supposed to be." Troy lead them toward the kitchen door at the back of the house. "The last time I talked to Mom she said Maria was coming over for dinner after the show. I'm pretty sure she's planning to stick around here and take you back to the hotel with her."

"Oh." Gabriella thought about the planning that must have gone into this not-so-impromptu weekend that occurred when she suddenly decided to try and stay in California.

Troy opened the door and ushered Gabriella into the house ahead of him. "Are you hungry? I don't know what Mom was fixing but I'm sure we can grab a sandwich or something."

Gabriella shook her head but smiled a little when she heard laughter coming from the living room. The house was warm. And for the first time since the show had ended that evening, she felt at home again.

"Can't we just go into your room to talk?" she requested. It really didn't matter as long as she was with Troy, but she quickly realized that she felt even more relaxed knowing that her mother and Troy's parents were there as well.

Again Troy stuttered. "I…I'd rather go out to the tree house. You know how Dad likes to eavesdrop." He tried to cover his nervousness.

Gabriella felt herself relax a little more. She wasn't sure why Troy was nervous. But he certainly seemed to have some sort of agenda planned for the evening. "Ok." She conceded. "If that's what you want."

Troy stopped her with a tug on the hand and pulled her around to face him. "Gabriella, you are what I want. Don't you get that?"

When she gripped both his hands and looked up into his face Troy could see the tearstains that streaked across the soft skin. He swallowed the lump in his throat that was daring to push tears from his own eyes. _Not yet, not here._

He stepped around the corner into his bedroom and grabbed his Wildcat hoodie off the closet door. He brought it back out into the kitchen and handed it to his girlfriend. "Here, put this on." He urged. Then he lightly grasped her fingers and pulled her toward the living room.

When they reached the doorway three surprised faces looked up to greet them.

"You guys are home early." Jack smiled at his son.

Gabriella nestled her mouth against Troy's shoulder as she peeked over at her mother.

"You did wonderfully tonight, both of you." Maria exclaimed with tears in her eyes at the sight of her daughter and boyfriend together again. "Why aren't you still at the party?"

Troy did his best to smile at their parents as he felt Gabriella move even closer to him, clutching his hand.

"I just…" she started quietly. "I guess the rush of everything kinda wiped me out. I just didn't feel like staying any longer." Gabriella answered and was grateful for the warmth of Troy's tight grip around her fingers.

Maria and Lucille nodded at the young couple. "So are you guys staying in the rest of the evening or heading out somewhere on your own?" Lucille inquired.

Troy smiled warmly at his mom. "We're gonna go hang out in the treehouse for a little while. I'm leaving my cell phone on the kitchen counter to charge. If somebody calls would you mind just to tell them we'll see them tomorrow please?" He traded glances with all three adults in the room.

Jack answered for them all with a simple nod. "You got it Son. Hey, the show was great tonight. It was certainly a lot better when the two of you decided to play your own roles." He smiled at them and was glad to see a small soft grin appear on Gabriella's face.

She had gotten Troy into singing when she appeared at East High. She had helped him find a new outlet in the theater. But she had also helped him find detention and the gruff side of his father. One of Gabriella's fears had been that Jack Bolton would never accept Troy's love and abilities in the musical world.

But at that moment Gabriella saw a beam of pride from Coach Bolton's face that told her for certain that Troy's father was proud of him tonight. He had accepted Troy's new interests, including her. Gabriella caught the coach's eye and mouthed a simple 'thank you' to him as she pulled herself even more tightly against his son.

Jack winked at Gabriella as Troy, Lucille, and Maria watched. Each began to understand the familial presence that was forming at that moment, right there in that room.

"Go." Lucille insisted with a swipe of her hand. "Your secret hiding place is safe with us." She smiled.

"Briella?" Maria stopped her daughter just as she was turning to leave. "Are you coming back to the hotel with me or staying here tonight?"

Gabriella's and Troy's eyes both widened at the question. Troy looked at Maria and fielded her question. "We didn't know there was an option."

----------

Maria smiled at the blush that rose on Troy's face. "Lucy was under the impression that Brie was staying here because her bag was already here when they got home. I thought you'd be coming to the hotel with me. That's all." She explained honestly.

Troy nodded at Gabriella's mother. "We just stopped by here for a minute to freshen up before coming over to the school." He tried to explain.

Gabriella's eyes widened when she realized that they all thought perhaps something more had happened. "I fell asleep the last hour of the drive. Troy just stopped here so I could use a more comfortable bathroom to put on a little makeup and stretch for a minute or two. That's all."

Jack smirked but caught the chuckle in his throat before it pronounced itself through his mouth. "That's fine. Gabriella you know you're welcome here anytime. You can stay in the guest room tonight if you want. Troy was just in such a rush to come get you…we never really thought about where you were staying _if_ he was able to change your mind and bring you back home."

Gabriella leaned her nose against Troy's shoulder blade again and realized she had missed even the scent of him. As she weighed the options in her head a myriad of feelings ran through her heart. She looked toward her mother with an unsure gaze. "Can I let you know in a little bit?"

Maria smiled at her daughter. "Of course you can." Maria looked at her watch. "I'll probably leave in about an hour." She caught the looks from both Lucille and Jack. "I know, you offered to let me stay here as well. But the hotel is already booked and I've got a bit of work I need to get done tonight. I really think the hotel is my best option."

Lucille shook her head at Maria but didn't disagree otherwise. "Graduation is in three weeks. You'll both stay here when you get back to town. I insist."

Maria accepted the invitation. She had made hotel reservations already but those could be canceled. With the interaction she had already witnessed tonight between Troy and Gabriella, she knew she should keep close ties with the Bolton family.

----------

Troy followed Gabriella up the ladder to the tree house carrying a backpack filled with sandwiches, fruit, chips and drinks. His heart pounded in his chest knowing that this next short span of time was likely to be something he'd want to remember the rest of his life.

A few thoughts of the day passed through his mind including the question Gabriella had asked him when they were getting out of the truck just a little while before. _She inspires my heart…because I love her._ Troy knew that's what he had to tell her, and the time had come.

Gabriella was a little surprised when Troy pulled an oversized pillow and blanket from a plastic tub in the heart of the structure. She laughed a little as Troy worked to spread the blanket onto the floor to try and make the wooden planks a little more comfortable.

"I've been up here before Wildcat. I'm fine just sitting on the floor." Yet she helped him spread the comfortable material over the unfinished wood.

Troy looked shy to her all of a sudden. He was quiet as he handed her the pillow and helped her get seated. He was lost in thought as he pulled the food from the backpack and laid it out on the blanket. As they both settled he finally looked up at her and spoke.

"Do you remember what you told me when you called on Wednesday?" His question seemed serious.

She nodded as she watched his face. "I told you that I thought it was best for me to stay in California." She bit her lip as she remembered the tearful conversation.

"Do you still feel that way? Did you just come back here to make me happy or did you actually change your mind?" Troy asked through the knot in his stomach.

Gabriella felt the tears forming again, the 'goodbye' tears. She shrugged her shoulders at him but knew that answer wasn't good enough for him. "Both, I think." She admitted.

She took a deep breath and looked into Troy's eyes, his magnificent, blue eyes. "Troy, when I looked up in that tree and saw you standing there on prom night, it was like magic. I never expected that. I knew I'd see you again. Mom wouldn't let me miss graduation even if I had tried. But I figured that I'd get here, do graduation, give you a hug if you'd even still speak to me, and then go back to Stanford and try to start over…again." She looked away from him as she finally let some of her true thoughts come out.

"But Gabriella, you said something else in that phone call…before you tried to tell me 'goodbye' again. And if you meant those words, at all, then you had to know…you had to know it wouldn't be like that."

Gabriella pressed her lips together and blinked back only a few of the tears that had formed. She swallowed and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I love you." She whispered and felt the burning sensation of the tears releasing from her eyes.

Troy moved closer to her quickly and took her hands in his. He bent his head to try and look into her eyes then pushed her own hand up under her chin to lift it just enough to make sure he had her attention. "Gabriella, I love you too." His heart pounded ten times faster as he watched her raise her eyes to meet his genuinely.

"When I told that audience tonight that you inspire my heart…it was my way of telling you that I love you too. That's why I came to get you. That's why you have to sing with me in our show." He paused for a moment just waiting for any reaction she might be willing to give.

Gabriella saw the truth in Troy's eyes. She had always thought it was such a cliché to think that you could see someone's soul through their eyes. But as she stared into Troy's she knew it was true.

Honestly, she'd known it was true for seventeen months now. That's how long she'd been searching those eyes for the signs of his true feelings. That's why her heart had crushed so easily the two times in the past year and half when she had walked away from him. Because she knew that she loved him, and through his eyes, she knew that he loved her too.

"Is Berkeley really where you want to go to college?" she asked softly and looked back down at their hands laced together.

"Honestly?" Troy continued watching her as her thumbs traced imaginary patterns over his knuckles. "No."

She looked back up at him but wasn't surprised by his answer. "U of A?"

Troy shook his head and smiled. "Nope." He leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on her nose. "I didn't even apply to the college where I'd really like to go. But the only reason I want to go there is because of you. And since they don't offer courses for me to major in Gabriella Montez it's probably a good thing that I can't get into Stanford. Cause as much as I would love to be right there with you I doubt I'd be able to pass any classes, except ones that revolve around you."

Gabriella giggled and Troy's heart soared. "That's one of the million reasons I can't be away from you. You have no idea what the sound of your laugh does to me, do you?"

She held her smile and squeezed Troy's hand. "Do you mind telling me again? Saying _the_ words again?" she requested.

This time Troy held her chin between his thumb and index finger as he looked deep into her dark brown eyes. "I love you. And I'm pretty sure I've been in love with you since New Year's eve, two years ago."

Before she could say anything Troy pulled her chin toward him and placed his lips on hers. Their eyes closed as they sat there silently, lips connected, moving gently against each other's.

Troy felt her gently pushing against his lips. She seemed to want a deeper connection. It was just another way, he realized, of her telling him that she was still scared of letting go.

Then, in the next breath they shared she giggled again. With that Troy had to pull away. "Very romantic Montez. What'd I do? You know I'm not the expert kisser that all the East High cheerleaders think I am."

She grinned at him. "Well, that's good to know. Although I'm nothing more than a novice myself, I'm quite satisfied. And you're welcome to practice on me anytime."

Troy laughed and sighed deeply at the satisfied feeling that was finally running through his entire body. "I plan to." He smiled at her fully and winked at her. "That's another of those million reasons you know."

He leaned forward and kissed her again. Again, after just a few moments she pulled away and giggled. "I'm sorry." She offered and glanced around at their surroundings. "I love you Wildcat."

"Well I appreciate that, but apparently there's a problem kissing me in a tree house. Spill it Montez." He finally ordered.

Her bright smile finally broke through. "It's really childish." She began.

"Try me." Troy insisted.

"Gladly." She brought her lips back together and pressed them to his in a short smacking kiss before she continued. "I just keep thinking of this teasing rhyme thing that fits us perfectly right now."

"Uh-huh." Troy answered as he pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Troy and Gabi sittin' in a tree…" she started the rhyme in a near chant.

Troy joined her for the next part of it. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

He looked at her a bit curiously. "You realize what the rest of that rhyme says don't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but for now I just want to concentrate on that first part."

Troy put his hand on her cheek and let her rest the weight of her face on him.

"Troy?" she blinked slowly and never moved her head from the warmth of his hand. "Thank you for bringing me home. I love you."

**__________**


	10. Motherly Advice

**Happy 22nd Birthday Zac! Here's hoping Vancouver offers you a lovely day, and that your birthday wishes come true!**

**Now, with that out of the way...and btw, Happy belated b-day to JerrysGirl!... Let me just make a couple of little notes about this chapter. 1) I'm not an advocate of becoming sexually active in high school. 2) I am an advocate of having open talks with your children/parents. We should NOT be embarrassed to help our kids learn about sex and love and how the two go together. And 3) I am an advocate of protection when it comes to these subjects. It's available, use it!**

**Last but not least, after all that, this chapter is NOT 'M' rated. 'T' perhaps, but only because of subjects being discussed. That's it. Enough said. I hope you will read, enjoy and let me know what you think. As always, I own nothing HSM except trinkets, DVD's (well-worn) and wonderful memories. Happy anniversary HSM3 and thanks to the amazing cast and production crew who brought this generation changing phenomena to our lives! KTZLF! -adc**

* * *

"So will you do the show tomorrow night?" Troy asked seriously. Gabriella had been crying in the truck earlier when he tried to ask her about their Saturday agenda.

They had pulled the food out of Troy's backpack and fashioned a picnic in the tree house. Once Troy had gotten past Gabriella's giggles and teasing, which he found completely intoxicating, they had shared several more loving kisses.

Each time Troy pulled away from her Gabriella had asked for more. That game went on for a half an hour before the young lady finally realized she was hungry and reached for the backpack to retrieve their makeshift dinner.

She sat with her legs folded under her, the red and white hooded sweatshirt pulled down nearly to her knees. The silver and black skirt of her dress was barely noticeable and she had caught Troy staring at her legs several times while they ate.

He had inhaled two sandwiches, chips and a can of cola before leaning back against the wall and watching Gabriella nibble on her food. "You don't leave until Sunday afternoon." Troy attempted to start the conversation again, hoping for no tears this time.

"I know." She answered as she chewed on the small bite of chicken salad that she had just pulled off the sandwich and pushed into her mouth. "Your mom makes amazing chicken salad. I love almonds." Gabriella mentioned.

"Gabriella, you're avoiding the subject." Troy crossed his arms on his chest and stretched his legs out in front of him. "Let's try this again. _We_ have a show tomorrow night. _We _need to be there for rehearsals and mic checks by six o'clock. _You_ will need to be in makeup by six-thirty. So I vote that _we _leave here between five and five-fifteen." He stared at her as she continued picking at the sandwich.

"Troy, I don't know." She pouted with a pained yet thoughtful look on her face.

"What's not to know? I just laid out the plan for us. All you have to do is make sure you are back here by five and we'll go from there." He waited for her to look back up at him.

"It's not fair to Sharpay. I'm here, I'm gone, I miss rehearsals and then swoop back in…"

"And you jump right back into the part that was written _for you_. Sharpay has her own part in this. Gabriella, Baby, I don't understand. You hit the ground running in the show tonight. Why can't you do that tomorrow?"

"Because I've got tonight and all day tomorrow to think about it Troy." She paused and scrunched her nose. "Did you just call me Baby?"

Troy pushed himself away from the wall and scooted closer to her. "It was Baby as in 'I love you Baby'…not 'you're acting like one.' So don't change the subject. Is this about stage fright?"

Gabriella looked away from him again. "Maybe a little."

"Uh-uh." Troy protested. "You enjoy being up on stage. You may get nervous, but that's not a valid excuse anymore. You know the lines and the songs and the music in this one. You're the one who suggested this show. Nerves are not a valid excuse this time."

"Well maybe I just want to sit with my mom and your parents and watch _you _perform. How about that?" she tried to smile at Troy but he still wasn't buying her act.

"This is about 'goodbyes' again, isn't it?" Troy sighed. He wanted to understand. He thought they had just settled this topic with "I love you's" and copious kisses.

Gabriella stared at his lips but wouldn't look into his eyes. "Maybe." She admitted softly.

Troy pulled himself even closer to her so they were sitting hip to hip facing each other. He reached out and dared to put his hand just above her knee on the exposed skin just below her dress. He leaned forward and placed another warm kiss on her lips. "Gabriella, I love you. Please help me understand."

Her eyes remained closed when he pulled away and she sighed. Troy kissed her forehead and her cheeks as he talked to her. "I want you on that stage with me. You said it yourself, this is probably our last chance to perform together." She heard a bit of a smile in his voice as he added, "After all, you got me into this mess. Now look what you've done. I'm gonna be a theater major with an education minor playing basketball for Berkeley…all that so I can be a thousand twenty miles closer to you."

Gabriella opened her eyes with a hint of guilt even though she saw him smiling. "You don't have to…" she started to say but Troy stopped her with an index finger over her lips.

"Yes. I do. Chill Gabriella. We've covered that already. I love you and I do have to do this. More than that, I want to do it. Will you please do the show…for me?"

Gabriella let out a sigh and smiled. "Will you help me deal with the 'goodbyes' and stuff?"

"I'll be right by your side. I promise." Troy answered with hope in his voice.

"Promise is a really big word Troy." She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. "And because I love you I promise I'll do the show with you."

Troy smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her back with him until she was sitting in his lap and he was leaning against the wall. She leaned her forehead against his and took a breath as she looked into his eyes. Gabriella let her hand wander up his chest and combed her fingers through his hair until she could fidget with his earlobe.

He recalled her doing that just two nights ago when he had gotten to Stanford to retrieve her for their prom. He melted under her touch as he recalled the kiss they had shared that evening. That one compared only to those they had shared on this night. And when her lips touched his again he realized the kisses were now even more sweet because they were filled with love, trust, and promises of a future yet to come.

----------

"Briella, are you coming with me or staying here?" Maria's voice sounded from the base of the tree followed by Lucille's.

"Troy don't make me come up there. You know I will." Mrs. Bolton attempted to sound authoritative, but the tone lost out to the smile on her face.

They heard the teens laugh from their inner sanctuary of the tree house. Troy looked at Gabriella. "I'm guessing if you stay with us we wouldn't be allowed to spend the night out here."

Gabriella blushed. "You mean together, like a sleepover?" Spending a night with Troy had entered her mind the previous year after they shared their first real kiss. And now that they had admitted their love for each other, the thought was coming back full force.

Troy laughed a little and then noticed his girlfriend's wide eyes. "That…that's not…what you're thinking, Gabriella, that's not what I meant." A scared but dazed look took over Troy's eyes.

They sat, looking at each other just trying to figure out what to say. Until that week their kisses had always been just kisses between a high school boyfriend and girlfriend.

_They had learned much about each other since their first kiss, junior year, after the basketball championships…when Chad wasn't there to interrupt them. Even after their short-lived breakup during the summer, their reunion had simply included holding each other, clothed bodies touching and enjoying kisses._

_New Year's Eve, what they considered their anniversary of sorts, when love was just beginning to enter their minds, Troy had ventured to move his lips from hers to a spot just under her ear. Her hands had clutched to his shoulder and he swore he felt her body temperature rise a few degrees when his lips met that delicate skin. But after a few seconds she had giggled._

_The mood wasn't broken but Troy hadn't tried it again. He was too much of a gentleman and knew that Gabriella was more than shy when it came to intimate touches. Even though his mind and body had been telling him to push forward his heart correctly informed him that he would know, they would know, when the time was right._

Gabriella slowly took in a breath and let her tongue moisten her lips. She was still perched on Troy's lap. He hadn't let her move since they'd gotten to that position.

As they talked over the past hour she had run her fingers through his hair, played with his ears – which he seemed to enjoy, and kissed his lips. He, in turn, had toyed with the hem of her dress and his sweatshirt – which he decided looked much better on her than on him. He had also allowed his fingers to touch the soft skin underneath the material.

During one kiss his hand slipped under the edge of her dress just to hold her in place. Gabriella had tensed but didn't pull out of the kiss. Troy had felt his own temperature rise with just that little bit of added contact. It wasn't hard for him to admit, he wanted more.

Gabriella looked down at her hand as she placed it on Troy's chest. Her other hand worked its way up his neck and back to his ear where she stalled and skimmed her index finger over the bumpy ridge. She bit her lip again in thought.

"Tell me." Troy watched every move, every twitch that crossed her facial features.

She finally dared to look back into his eyes.

"Briella! I'm not waiting down here all night. Are you coming with me or not?" Maria's voice was obviously getting frustrated. "I'm leaving in 5 minutes. If you're in the house you can let me know. Otherwise I'm leaving you here at the mercy of Lucy and Coach Bolton."

Gabriella's mother smiled at Troy's mom. "Do you ever get the feeling…"

"They're a lot older than they really are?" Lucille finished. The two women shook their heads and turned to go back to the house.

Gabriella and Troy continued looking at each other, hearing every word their mothers spoke. Gabriella was waiting for the right moment to try and voice what she was thinking to Troy.

When they knew the women were gone Troy repeated himself. "Gabriella, tell me what you're thinking. There's obviously something going on in that elevated i.q. brain right now.

She sighed as she gripped at Troy's t-shirt. "My brain's kinda in a fog right now. My heart's telling me a few things and it's scaring me a little bit."

"Like what?" Troy tried to encourage her with his soft voice. He had a feeling he knew exactly what Gabriella's heart was telling her. Probably the same things his heart was telling him.

"Like I want more." She blushed profoundly and quickly shifted her gaze back to the hand on his chest.

"More of…" Troy questioned and raised her chin so that she was looking at his face once more.

"…Us." Gabriella answered simply and then let the breath escape from her lips. Her heart felt like fireworks were exploding inside of it. The dark-haired math geek was completely stunned that she had even started a conversation like this with a boy. Not just any boy though, she started it with her boyfriend…her gorgeous, athletic, dedicated boyfriend, who loved her.

Troy quickly saw the redness fill her cheeks, neck and forehead. He felt his own face flush but smiled, leaned in and kissed Gabriella softly on her warm lips.

Troy pulled back and placed both of his hands on her waist. He let out his own breath. "We shouldn't be afraid to talk about this, not with each other."

Gabriella swiped her thumb across Troy's lips and then leaned forward again to steal another kiss from him. "You're right." Again she felt her cheeks blush. "But tonight may not be the best time for it." She felt her 17 year old courage building just a bit. "I've thought about spending the night with you Troy." She admitted. "But what I've imagined wasn't exactly us in a tree house, or being chaperoned by your mom and dad."

Troy sucked in a breath at her insinuation. "Oh wow…" he swallowed and pushed Gabriella as though he wanted her to move from his lap. "Have I mentioned that I love you?" Troy tried to smile to cover his bit of embarrassment.

Gabriella took his hint and removed herself from his legs with a slight question in her eyes. Troy fumbled for more of an explanation. "You do a lot to me Gabriella Montez. And a lot of it has more to do with body parts other than my heart. Sorry." He apologized as he shifted.

"Then we'd better talk about this soon…because my 'elevated i.q.' is doing nothing to satisfy my physical…um…curiosity." She watched as Troy leaned his head back and took the opportunity to look over his entire body.

Troy was a little surprised as Gabriella stood up and offered him her hand. As she pulled him up she pulled herself closer to him. When she wrapped her hands around his waist Troy was completely aware that she could feel his bodily change that their short conversation had caused.

Gabriella looked up at him while they hugged noticing his tense jaw. "I see what you mean." She rested her head on his chest as she tightened her grip around him.

Troy shook his head. "You'd better go with your mom tonight. Maybe tomorrow after the show we can continue this…chat." He saw Gabriella's near pouting face. "What now?"

"Aren't we gonna see each other before tomorrow night? You can't just bring me back to Albuquerque and then leave me with my mom all day tomorrow. I want to be with you." Troy saw the tears appear in her eyes again.

"Baby, I'll be at the hotel to pick you up at 6AM if you want me to be. I would _love_ to spend the night with you, just so you know. But I really think it would be safer for both of us for you to go with your mom tonight. I can barely keep my hands off of you as it is."

Gabriella smiled again. "I love you Wildcat." She added and with a kiss they both headed toward the ladder.

----------

"What's on your mind Mija?" Maria prodded as she and Gabriella walked into their hotel room for the night. "Are you regretting coming back here for the show?"

Gabriella shook her head and lifted her suitcase onto the bed. She plopped herself down pulled a pillow into her lap and started to pick at the pillowcase.

"Come on Briella. What is it? Did something happen between you and Troy? You were out in the tree house longer than we expected. What were you talking about?" Maria scooted the suitcase over and sat down beside her daughter. "Brie, you're blushing. What happened?"

"Nothing happened. We just talked, and ate and … kissed. Just like usual." Gabriella smiled toward her mom between her rosy cheeks.

"Um-hmmm." Maria answered. "Briella, I haven't pushed for a year and a half because I trust you and I trust Troy. But soon you will both be in college. I think it's time I push."

Gabriella's face turned an even darker shade of crimson. "I don't even know how to talk about this Mom. Where do we even start?"

"Well we had the chat about the birds and the bees years ago. You are very responsible. I know that. But we both know that Troy is very persuasive. I'll admit, I've been very concerned about some of the late-night dates you've shared. I just hoped that you'd come to me and let me know if things … progressed between the two of you." Maria shifted on the bed and linked her hands together on her lap.

"Have things…progressed?" It was one of the few times Gabriella had seen her mother blush. She placed her own hand over her mother's and looked at Maria's face.

"I love him Mom." Gabriella stopped expecting to see a shocked expression form on Maria's face. What she saw was a look of understanding, not one of surprise.

"I know." Maria answered with a soft smile.

"What do you mean you know?" Gabriella was just a bit confused.

Maria unclenched her hands and wrapped them around Gabriella's. "It's hard _not_ to see the love between you two. New Year's Eve before the two of you went out for karaoke, Lucille and I both noticed the touches, the smiles, almost a glow around both of you. It's been there since the callbacks for Twinkle Towne."

"I…I'm not sure what you want me to say." Gabriella's mouth felt like sand.

"I think I'm happy that you've realized what you're feeling. But have you told Troy?" Maria's face turned thoughtful as she began to consider her motherly duties on this subject.

Gabriella nodded. "I, uh, I told him on the phone on Wednesday, right before I told him I needed to stay at Stanford."

"On the phone? Gabriella, Sweetheart, you told him you _loved_ him over the phone?"

Gabriella nodded. "I didn't mean to. The words slipped out while I was trying to tell him goodbye. I figured he'd get ticked at me and the distance would just give us both a little time to settle in before graduation. Then when I came back for graduation it could just be another day, another ceremony, and I could move on."

Now Maria sat stunned. "That's not what you really wanted was it?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, but I didn't know how to handle leaving him or even being away from him. Just when I was beginning to understand that I really care for him, and love him, there was Stanford and my future right in front of me, without Troy."

Maria thought for a moment. "So when I heard you and Taylor talking in your room a few weeks ago… That's when you were beginning to understand your feelings for Troy?"

Her daughter nodded again. "Tay said Troy was my first 'crush'. All of a sudden it hit me. I knew it was more than that. I've known it was more than a crush for over a year now. But I just kept figuring that we were too young and our lives were gonna go in different directions and I just couldn't let myself get hung up on a relationship." Gabriella stopped to take a deep breath.

"Not even if that relationship was with someone you really love?"

"Can it really be love Mom? I'm 17 and Troy's 18. Can it really be love?"

"Did you tell Troy that you love him?"

"Yeah." Gabriella answered softly.

"How does he feel?" Maria realized she hadn't broached Troy's side of this emotion.

"Tonight, he told me that he loves me too." The young lady blushed again. "When he told the audience that I inspire his heart…that was his way of letting me know that he loves me too. That's why he came after me. That's why he wanted me back here with him for the show." She looked into her mom's face. "Because he loves me too."

Maria wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her close. "Then, my dear, I think you've answered your own question. If you've both spoken the words to each other…_I_ think it _can_ be love."

The two sat together for a few more minutes as Maria tried to soak in the conversation. She ran her fingers through Gabriella's hair and felt Gabriella stroke her hands and twist the rings on her fingers.

"So my baby's in love." Maria finally spoke and laughed a little.

Gabriella returned the laugh. "And the man that I love is coming to California to go to college just to be closer to me."

Maria sat up straighter and took a deep breath. Gabriella sat up beside her mother and looked at a more serious face on the older woman. "Mom?"

This time Maria nodded and pulled in another lung-full of oxygen. "I need to turn on my mother side for a little while. Will you indulge me without getting mad?"

Gabriella moved herself up to lay her head on the pillow. "Can I have my book?"

Maria stood up from the bed and walked over to the dresser where her purse was sitting. She looked over her shoulder at her daughter and rolled her eyes. "No ma'am. For this conversation I need to know that you're listening to me… and I need you to be honest with me."

Gabriella rolled her own eyes at her mother's turned back and pulled the pillow to hold on her stomach again. "I'm all yours Mom, read me…I'm an open book."

Maria shook her head as she pulled a slip of paper from her purse and looked at it. She wandered back to the space between the two beds and handed the paper to Gabriella who looked at it curiously. Maria sat down on the second bed in the room and watched as her daughter scanned the words carefully.

"It's a prescription?" Gabriella questioned and looked at her mother.

Maria licked her lips and gritted her teeth together for just a second. "Have you and Troy done anything more than kissing?"

Gabriella's eyes widened as the puzzle pieces began to fit together. She shook her head somewhat vigorously as Maria watched her.

"Honestly?" Maria asked again and Gabriella's eyes came back to their normal size.

"Honestly Mom. We've kissed and we've _kissed._ But when the kissing starts…I don't know…heating up? One of us usually stops things." Gabriella continued.

"Usually?" her mother's eyes widened.

"Always." Gabriella answered with an almost frustrated tone. She looked down at her shapely chest and then back at Maria. "The only time Troy has come close to an inappropriate touch was when we got caught using the pool at Lava Springs over the summer. His hands slipped up from my waist on my wet swimsuit when he was helping me out of the pool."

"And?" Maria watched her daughter nearly melt at the memory while her face turned red.

"And, I liked it." Gabriella sighed.

Maria's own face was a bit flush. "And after he told you that he loved you tonight…you still just…"

"Kissed. Yes Mama, we still just kissed." Gabriella was now obviously frustrated.

Maria smiled. "What?" Gabriella asked with eyes growing wide again.

"Troy's being too much of a gentleman?" Maria nearly smirked as Gabriella grunted and rolled her eyes.

"_MOTHER!"_

"Ok, sorry, out of the motherly realm I guess." Maria kept the smile on her face. "Briella," she leaned forward to make sure she had her daughter's attention. "I don't want you and Troy to rush anything. For the record, I am not thrilled with the idea of my baby becoming sexually active."

"Mother." Gabriella pouted again.

"Ah-ah." Maria scolded. "Let me say my peace. I don't like the idea of you having sex with _anyone_. Not even with Troy, not at this age, not with the thought of the potential futures you both have." She stopped for a second just to think.

"Everyone says that a _baby_ complicates things. Briella, _sex_ can complicate things even more. It's one thing for someone who has graduated from college and is starting their career. You know how I feel about having a college education. But it's a huge issue for a college student who already has a full course load on her plate plus extracurricular activities. Putting sex into that equation is completely crazy…in my opinion. Wondering if you and your partner are going to stay together, do you like what the other is doing, wondering each month if the birth control has worked or not. _IT_ is completely complicated on its own." Again Maria stopped to think about what she was saying.

"And then there is sex and high school students. Kids who are barely old enough to _babysit_ infants…and suddenly they throw themselves into a fully adult role of potentially having a baby themselves." She looked her daughter directly in the eyes. "_I don't want you in that situation."_ And that's where Maria stopped for more than just a thought.

Gabriella stared at the paper in her hands and tried to let her mother's words sink into her brain. The two things contradicted each other completely. "Mom? You have completely and thoroughly confused me."

Maria nodded. "Good." She shook her head and smiled. "Because everytime I've played out this scenario in my head I've confused myself. So will you allow me to try and clear it up…at least my thoughts on this subject?"

Gabriella nodded wondering if there was any chance of that actually happening. And then Maria started again.

"That last tirade…was _my_ opinion, and what _I_ want. Now you are aware of it. However, what _you _choose to do is completely up to you, and Troy I'm guessing… or I should say I'm hoping. The birth control prescription is for your safety. With what you are telling me about your feelings, I suggest you get it filled." Maria sighed. "And I suggest you get it filled soon."

Gabriella continued thinking about Maria's words. This woman had been Gabriella's world for 17 years. She realized now that high school graduation would change her world in more ways than she had ever expected. The two women sat in silence for several minutes, Gabriella staring at the prescription and Maria letting her eyes wander around the hotel room.

"Mom?" Gabriella finally spoke up. "Will you be disappointed in me _if_ Troy and I choose to make love?"

Maria held back the tears that she knew her daughter could see pooling in her eyes. "Mija…I will try my best not to be. I won't know unless you tell me and that is completely up to you. I will listen if you need me to. And I promise I will try not to push my opinions on you."

Gabriella chuckled a little and looked at her mom. "You know me better than anyone. I won't have to say a word for you to know that I've lost my virginity."

Maria smiled. "Okay, then I'll try not to continually ask you after each date if 'anything' happened. Fair enough?"

"Mama?"

"Yes my baby?"

"I love you." Gabriella rolled out of the bed and nearly tackled Maria with a hug.

"I love you too." Maria smiled and accepted the hug with a playful tickle to her daughter's ribs.

When they sat back up Maria ventured to ask one more question. "Briella? Does Troy tickle you?"

Gabriella smiled. "Not as often as I think he'd really like to. But I'm hoping that will change." She put the prescription on the bedside table and looked back at Maria. "This is going to sound really unlike me…and I know it's not what you want to hear…but can I get that filled, tomorrow?"

Maria sucked in another breath. "That's a little sooner than I expected…but if that's what you want. You do realize you need to be on the pill for several weeks before you can rely on it for protection, right?"

Gabriella pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth and nodded at her mother. Maria lifted her hand to stop anything else her daughter was going to say. "Please don't say anything else. We'll go to the pharmacy tomorrow. What happens from there is up to you and Troy. And if you want me to know something you can tell me. If I need to kill him you let me know. But tonight, unless you have questions, I think I've had about all I can take."

The 17 year old girl grabbed her pajamas out of her suitcase and made her way into the bathroom to change. Maria wished her hearing wasn't as good when she deciphered the whisper that came from Gabriella's lips when she walked in the bathroom.

"Happy Graduation Troy."

---------

Troy escorted Lucille across the basketball court in the back yard. He had kissed Gabriella good night and made her promise to call him as soon as she was awake the next morning. From there Gabriella and Maria had left the mother/son team in the back yard.

Lucille had watched closely as Troy's eyes were trained on the dark haired girl that he proudly now called his girlfriend to anyone who would listen. Her son had turned back to her with a smile on his face and a glisten in his eye.

"You just remember who helped you build that tree house and the hours that you and Chad spent up there becoming blood brothers. That's your childhood up there Troy." Lucille encouraged.

"I know Mom. I'll never forget that stuff. That's a lot of what Gabriella and I talked about while we were up there. Childhoods, present, futures…" Troy let his voice drift off.

"Futures that include each other?" Lucille was now curious.

Troy didn't hesitate to nod his head. "I hope so. I love her Mom."

Before they reached the back door Lucille took her son's hand and pulled him over to the swing on the back porch. They sat down together and Troy felt the squeeze of his mother's gentle hand around his larger one.

"Does she know that?" Lucille asked as she tried to hide the tears and the fluttering of her heart.

"I told her tonight. That's why I wanted to go out to the tree house. Dad tends to try and eavesdrop on us when we're in my room…or anywhere else in the house." Troy shook his head as Lucille laughed.

"The worst part is, he's not good at it." Lucille added. They both laughed together.

"Mom? You guys like Gabriella, right? I mean…I know Dad had issues with her at first but now that we've been dating for more than a year…he's ok with her, right?" Troy sounded just a little worried.

"Troy. Your father adores Gabriella. Once we got him to open his eyes and realize that you're growing up and that basketball wasn't your entire life, he had to really take notice of her. If there was any question about his feelings for Gabriella he would still be fighting you about going to Berkeley. Especially after talking with Maria tonight, Jack realizes that you need to be near Gabriella, and even more, she needs you near her." Lucille patted Troy on his knee.

"Are we moving too fast Mom? I don't feel pushed by anyone or anything except my own heart. I look at Gabriella and all I can think is that I need to be close to her. I need to be where I can get to her if she needs me to. And any free minute I get, I just want to be with her." Troy looked at his mother's soft features knowing her thoughts before she even said them.

"I know you love her. _We_ know you love her. And I'm pretty sure that young lady loves you too and wants to care for you just like you want to take care of her. Am I right?" Lucille lifted her hand to rub her thumb across Troy's cheek.

"I think so. She didn't ask me to come get her this week. She didn't ask me to go to Berkeley. But she's not putting up a fight about either of those choices. I think she was just so scared that this was goodbye again…" Troy let his thoughts trail away as the word crept through his mind.

"But Troy, you aren't just doing this to prove her wrong, right? You can be stubborn but that's not what this is about is it? Because we're talking about your life here. It's not about proving to Gabriella that you're a friend who is going to be there for her and not say goodbye. Life has a way of weeding out things like that on its own. We don't have to help it along." Lucille studied her son's face as he twiddled this thumbs against his stomach.

"I know it sounds impulsive. The stuff from Berkeley didn't come up till tonight. But I told Dad a couple of weeks ago that I had offers from other schools. This isn't just a spur of the moment thing Mom, I promise you that." Troy leaned forward on the swing just trying to remember his process of reaching this conclusion. He felt Lucille's hand on his back gently rubbing.

Troy continued thinking out loud knowing his mother would listen to anything he cared to share. "Stanford was one of the first things Gabriella shared with me after we did the Twinkle Towne callbacks. We went up on the rooftop for lunch just because everything was finally calming down and for some reason we started talking about college. We laughed because we both had one-track minds. I told her I was heading for basketball at U of A and she said Stanford had always been her goal."

"That stuck in your head?" Troy nodded. "Why?" Lucille asked.

"I'm not sure. But that day I came back here and looked up Stanford on the internet and read a little about it. They have a basketball program. Did you know that?" Troy smiled and glanced toward his mother. "But it's not for me. Too much academic pressure. That's the stuff Gabriella was made for."

"So you looked it up and found out about it. Nothing wrong with that. You're curious, that's allowed." Lucille heard Troy breath deeply.

"After this summer, when we were apart for that couple of weeks, I guess I did some soul searching. Gabriella and I talked about college again. She didn't tell me that she was practically in the door at Stanford already, but it came up again. So I spent part of that time in my room looking at other schools in California."

"Close to Stanford?"

"Yeah." Troy looked at his mom. "I felt like I was betraying Dad. But there was this part of me that told me I had to make this decision. And when I started weighing my pro's and con's all of a sudden there were three things I kept considering…and Dad wasn't one of them."

Lucille looked a bit shocked. "What were they?"

"Basketball, theater and Gabriella." Troy looked back at his hands and pushed the swing backwards and forwards with his feet.

"So that was during the summer." Lucille considered. "And when the two of you got back together and school started again…did you re-think your list?"

Troy nodded. "Several times. Especially during basketball season. And it really smacked me when I found out Ms. Darbus had put my name in at Julliard." Troy hesitated for a moment. "Don't shoot me over this, okay?"

Lucille cocked her head in his direction and raised her eyebrows. "I'm listening."

"During the season, after just about every away game, especially if Gabriella couldn't go, I would come home, take a shower to try and settle down and then I would sneak over to her house for a couple of hours."

Lucille's eyes widened at the thought. "I knew you'd left the house several times. But you went to Gabriella's? Does Maria know this? Troy, have you been…careful?" Suddenly Lucille felt a huge knot tighten in her stomach. She hadn't considered that there might be a more physical reason for Troy to _need_ to be with Gabriella, not until now.

Troy noticed the change in her attitude right away. Her gentle rubbing of his back turned into a near painful scratching with her fingernails. "Mom?" he tried to catch her attention. "Mom." He said plainly and waited for Lucille to look back at him. Her fingers finally stopped moving and she removed them from his back as he sat back and looked toward her.

Troy continued when their eyes met. "She just let me talk about the games, what went right and wrong. She'd let me vent if I was ticked at Dad or Chad about something and she'd just rub my shoulders or my neck if I was still tensed up."

Lucille's eyes were a touch clouded. "Is that _all_ she did?"

Troy's eyes widened with realization. "Mom…Yes that's all she did. We haven't…" he turned his head toward the house. "Geez, really not the conversation I wanted to have with my mother."

Lucille touched his arm gently. "Troy, I'm sorry. But you're 18 and talking to me about sneaking over to your girlfriend's house. Your father and I were your age once."

Troy's head whipped around and looked directly into his mother's eyes. "Are you telling me that you and Dad…when you were in high school?"

Lucille looked at her son and shook her head. "No! That's not what I'm telling you." She stumbled and Troy saw the blush creep into her cheeks. Lucille stared down at the porch. "I'm just telling you that I know at your age there are urges. And some kids…some young couples _act_ on those urges." She sighed.

"Mama? I'm just trying to tell you that going to Gabriella's on those nights…she helped me relax and we talked about stuff. The time we spend together, alone, helps me know that I needed to continue being close to her. We haven't acted on those urges…yet." Troy added shyly.

"So, Berkeley will put you closer to her. But that doesn't mean you're going to get to see her every day, or even every week for that matter. College will be a huge change Troy."

"I know Mom, I know. But at least I'll only be 30 miles from her, not a thousand."

Lucille nodded and Troy heard the distinct sniffle meaning his mother was finally letting her tears escape. He wrapped his arm around her and let Lucille put her head on his shoulder. "Mom? I love you and Dad. And I love you for not fighting me on this decision. Because I love Gabriella too. And right now, I believe in my heart, that this is the right decision for me."

"And we love you too my baby boy. We will always be here for you and do our best to support your decisions." She raised her head from her son's shoulder and swiped her thumb across his cheek. "You've grown up a lot over the past year Troy Bolton. I'm quite proud that I'm your mother." She smiled through her tears.

They sat on the porch quietly for a few more minutes before Troy decided to venture just a step into that subject that he knew would make both him and Lucille squirm.

"Mom?" It was the questioning beginning Lucille had heard a thousand times before. Her son asking permission to do something that he knew was wrong, but still had to ask.

"Hmmm?" she decided there wasn't a reason to get worked up just yet.

"What you said a few minutes ago…about me being _careful_ with Gabriella. I wasn't lying you know. We haven't had sex, in case you were wondering." _There_, he thought, _I've said it._

Lucille nodded her head and then ventured to ask the question that immediately came to mind. "Troy? Why not?"

Troy's head jerked around with nearly an angry look on his face. He held his tongue for just a moment as he tried to read his mother's face.

"I'm serious Troy. I'm not trying to make you mad or get into your head or anything, I'm purely a curious mother. Why haven't you and Gabriella slept together?" Lucille continued, praying that the blush on her face wasn't enough to give away her completely racing heart.

"We just…we…" Troy stumbled. This certainly wasn't the question he expected.

Lucille sighed. "You don't have to answer that. I should just be happy to know that you've chosen to wait."

Troy took a deep breath. "Gabriella and I have only talked about it a few times. A couple of girls at school were pregnant. And we weren't trying to make ourselves out to be better than them or anything like that. But one girl in particular…Gabriella told me that she was scared for her. She said the girl was a straight A student and had a full scholarship on the way but her so-called boyfriend had practically raped her and now there's a baby to consider. Her college dreams were shot because of one night."

Lucille returned her hand to Troy's back and felt some tension there this time. "You don't want to take a chance on ruining Gabriella's college dreams?"

Troy shook his head. "No. I can't do that. Not after the hard work that she _and_ Maria have put in. _But_ those urges that you mentioned? They're getting stronger. And I think Gabriella's wanting more than just kissing."

Lucille looked at him, trying to choose her words carefully and trying to keep her tone under control. "Kissing…is as far as the two of you have gone?"

Troy nodded his head but wouldn't look at his mom. "Love was a big part of things in my mind Mom. I've kissed other girls, been on dates, watched other guys make out with their girlfriends at parties. But I just didn't feel like that was what I wanted for me. Not until I met Gabriella."

"And you've held back because of your lack of experience?" Lucille didn't mean to prod. But Troy had opened up to her.

"Maybe a little. But _we've_ held back because I think we wanted to make sure we loved each other…not just for the physical part of it, you know?" Troy attempted to explain.

Lucille smiled softly at him. "And now you know that…and the physical urges are getting stronger?"

Troy chuckled under his breath. "You could say that." He closed his eyes as he thought about the last little bit of his conversation with Gabriella that night in the tree house. "You could definitely say that."

Lucille continued to work to control her emotions. She put her hands on the edge of the swing and joined Troy in swinging them gently back and forth. Troy could tell she was trying to formulate something in her head so he stayed quiet and simply watched his mother think.

Finally Lucille sighed and looked in his direction. "If you tell your father what I'm about to say I will deny every word of it. And remember I'm your mother. If you value me _at all_ …"

Troy sat up straight and stopped the swing. "Yes ma'am, I'm listening."

"From a 17 year old girl's point of view…there's a lot more that you can do for her and she can do for you…even without going all the way…or even coming close to that. Troy you are handsome and considerate and quite a gentleman. I've seen you with your dates in the past, but especially with Gabriella over the past year or so. Make sure you are on the same page with her. Don't hurt her. But there is a lot that can happen in between _just kissing_ and actually having sex."

Troy was gripping the swing with white knuckles. He stared straight forward as he let his mothers words fill his brain. He wouldn't admit to her the thoughts of Gabriella that were running through his mind, and his entire body as she spoke. But he was quite happy to hear a female perspective on this subject.

He moved his tongue around in his mouth to get the saliva flowing again. "I'm afraid if we do more than kissing I won't be able to stop myself."

Lucille looked at him. "Let her know that. But trust yourself too Troy. If you really love her you'll know just how far to go. And if she loves you, she won't be afraid to tell you when to stop. Listen to each other. If you're going to be partners, you've got to listen to each other. Making out, fooling around, having sex, making love…whatever you want to call it…is one of the most challenging times to listen, but can be one of the most rewarding times as well."

With that Lucille stood from the swing, bent down and kissed her son on the forehead and headed toward the door.

"Hey mom?" Troy spoke up from the swing with his back turned toward his mother. "Did you just give me permission to make love to Gabriella?"

Lucille let out one small laugh. "That's not _my_ permission to give. College is going to change things Troy. It's going to be a whole new world for both of you. If you love each other and are determined to make that love work then the physical aspect of it may be beneficial…for both of you. It's a choice you and Gabriella need to make, together."

Troy pushed the swing back and forth again as his mother went into the house. He watched through the window and saw Lucille wrap her arms around Jack's waist in the kitchen. He saw his father turn and place a loving kiss on his mother's lips. And Troy witnessed the gentle grasp that Jack placed on Lucille's backside when he turned to embrace her fully.

Parental touches that the 18 year old had so often turned away from suddenly weren't embarrassing anymore. Instead Troy was now more than anxious to show Gabriella his love through similar touches.

They were due for a long talk on this very subject. They were due for more than kissing. They were due to begin the next step of their lives together.

Troy made his way into the house and straight to his bedroom. He fumbled through the drawers on his dresser in search of the 'trial size' box that he had accepted earlier in the school year from his health class. He felt himself blush, remembering the scared look on Gabriella's face when he had slid the box of condoms into his backpack.

"_I only took it because Mr. Cook told us to. I'll probably throw them away when I get home, before mom finds them and lectures me."_ He had told Gabriella honestly.

Now Troy was glad he hadn't followed through on the last part of that plan. As he looked more closely at the instructions on the box several thoughts started running through his mind. With a firm belief that they would make the decisions together he let three words escape his mouth.

"Happy Graduation Gabriella."

**__________**


	11. Good Morning

**Happy anniversary HSM3! I'm celebrating this entire weekend by trying to fill in some of the blanks from the movie. :) I, of course, own nothing related to HSM3 except a few trinkets and some well-worn cd's and dvd's.  
Thank you, Zac, Vanessa and cohorts, plus Kenny, Peter B., Chuckie, Bonnie and all of the amazing cast and production crew who brought this amazing, generation-changing phenomena into our lives! I will now and forever be a "crazed fan" aka mom!  
KTZLF! -adc**

* * *

Gabriella tossed and turned throughout the night in the hotel room. She wished she could be back in the bedroom of her previous house snuggled under the comforter. And she wished she could see Troy climb over the balcony, quietly open the door, shed his shirt and climb under those covers to snuggle with her.

At that thought her eyes flew open and she felt a trickle of sweat on the back of her neck. She raised up enough to see the alarm clock on the night stand between the beds. 5:00AM. She first wondered if this would be too early to call Troy to come and get her. If he was sleepy they could always go back to the tree house and go back to sleep there, together.

Another bead of sweat ran down her neck.

She kicked off the covers and sat up in bed clutching a pillow to her chest. She looked over at her mother who was sound asleep in the other bed. Maria's hair was tousled, she had tossed for a while to get to sleep. But now she was still, completely content and sleeping soundly.

Gabriella had thought time and time again about the conversation she had shared with her mother the night before. Her immediate thought when handed the birth control prescription was a sense of urgency to be back with Troy and to push their relationship onto the next step. As the night dragged on she began to wonder about that next step.

She felt a surge of confidence brought on by the touches and kisses that she and Troy had shared. He loved her. And he had admitted he wanted to touch her more. Gabriella wanted that. Instead of saying goodbye to Troy, she wanted to feel his touch. Her heart sped up and she felt a tingle run down her spine.

She lay back on the bed and stared into the dark thinking about him, his handsome face, his strong arms, the way he held her, the way he kissed her, the added pressure she had felt him push against her waist before they had climbed out of the tree house…

Her eyes closed at the thought of him until that last memory brought a feeling to a part of her body that was nearly breathtaking. Again her eyes flew open and she swallowed hard at the unfamiliar feeling that crept up between her legs to the inside of her body and then back out again. She rubbed her hand against her thigh and tugged at the pj shorts she was wearing. This time the wet trickle wasn't on her neck.

Alone in the dark Gabriella began to wonder about that feeling. Was her body giving her hints that she was really ready for something more with Troy? Her mind and heart were certainly telling her that. Now as she really thought about it she realized her body was following suit.

The sensation she experienced left her feeling somewhat empty, as though something else, some kind of stimulation was needed to make the emptiness go away. Was that what Troy felt when they were together? Was that what he felt that night…the sensation that caused his…arousal?

If it was, Gabriella decided quickly, then she needed a cold shower.

She looked at the clock again. 5:15. She hugged the pillow closer to her and felt herself blush when a corner of the pillow skimmed down between her legs. When she sucked in a breath the 17-year-old girl squeezed her knees together and put the pillow down.

_I don't know if I can keep myself under control. Probably a good thing I'm going back to California tomorrow._

She pulled herself to the edge of the bed and let her legs dangle off the side. She couldn't stare at the clock any longer and needed some sort of distraction. So Gabriella quietly moved to turn the light on in the bathroom and fumbled through her suitcase until she found a pair of sweats and Troy's hoodie. With those and undergarments in hand she locked the bathroom door and prayed the shower wouldn't awaken her mother.

Troy had said he would come pick her up at 6AM if she wanted him to. She had a feeling he might regret that statement as she fully planned to make his phone ring the moment the clock flipped over to that early hour.

----------

It was 5AM at the Bolton house when Troy woke up to something that sounded like a basketball bouncing in his back yard. After looking at the clock and then jamming a pillow over his head to block the noise he decided it was pointless.

He huffed loudly as he realized he wouldn't get back to sleep, and that meant he wouldn't get back to the amazing dream he was having about Gabriella, and him, following their graduation. Troy shook his head as he felt a twitch in his groin as he remembered part of the vision that included graduation robes thrown onto a chair and a promise from Chad to leave them alone for an entire week.

He sat up on the side of his bed and looked out into the back yard where the streetlight just happened to shine on the basketball court. There was, in fact, someone on the court bouncing a basketball. Troy watched as the shadow dribbled slowly toward the foul line, stopped, and let the ball swish through the basket.

His thoughts of Gabriella gave way to the realization that his father was outside, at five o'clock in the morning, shooting hoops.

Troy pulled himself out of the bed and threw on his sweats and a t-shirt before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and heading toward the back door of the house. He wandered off the back porch toward the court as Jack put another shot into the air.

"Dad?" Troy finally spoke as he reached the edge of the clay pad.

Jack looked toward him and smiled. "Sorry. Couldn't sleep. I have a feeling this is going to become routine in the coming months."

"What's up?" Troy asked with a sleepy, confused look on his face as Jack bounced the ball to him.

Jack shook his head and accepted the pass from his son. The older Bolton let his feet leave the ground as he arched his wrist and let the ball fly toward the goal. He followed the shot and retrieved the ball after it fell through the net.

Jack walked back toward his son letting the ball bounce on the ground just a couple of times. "So, Berkeley, huh?"

Troy nodded his head, still looking confused.

"I looked them up online after your mom went to bed last night. They've got a good team. Been in the NCAA playoffs a lot in the last few years." Jack noted and let the ball roll off his fingertips toward Troy.

Troy caught the ball and nodded. "Yeah. And their theater program is awesome. I don't know that I'll ever be a starter on the team dad, but I will probably get a couple of lead roles in the productions."

Jack sighed. "Doesn't matter, as long as you're happy and you learn. It's gonna be a big change though you know. You've been a big fish in a small pond at East, Troy. The water's gonna be a lot deeper out there."

Troy chuckled at his dad's analogy. "I'm thinking that may be a good thing. One person's already got me hooked, so if there's more water I won't take the chance of being caught by somebody else."

Jack laughed. "She really does have you hooked doesn't she?"

Troy caught the ball again as they passed it back and forth. He tucked it under his arm and nodded his head. "Yeah, she does."

"Troy?" Jack held his hands out to catch a pass from his son. "Berkeley…I know it's closer to Gabriella. But is it what you want? It's your education, your future. That's what _I_ need to think about. I mean, I'm concerned about Gabriella's too, but it seems like you're the one whose dream is changing, not hers."

Troy thought for a minute. He and Jack had had a similar conversation weeks ago. It had ended with Troy running off mad. Neither of them wanted that to happen this time. So Troy really thought about what Jack was asking him.

"Dad, I think my dream started changing when Gabriella showed up at East High. And, when Ms. Darbus gave us a chance for a callback in that first musical. It's hard to describe. Being up on that stage though…it's like being out on the basketball court Dad. It's exhilarating and exciting and nerve-wracking, all at the same time. I don't think that's all Gabriella although she's sure influenced it. I never would've been up there at all if it weren't for her." Troy tried to explain.

Jack nodded as he took the ball again and turned to shoot it. "They have a way of opening our eyes to a lot of new things, don't they?"

"Huh?" Troy bumped the question from his lips.

"Women. They make us do and see a lot of things we'd probably never imagine without them." Jack answered.

Troy chuckled. "Yeah. I guess so. I mean, Chad would've never encouraged me to get up on stage. Well, we all know his feelings about it. But look, even Taylor's got him up there for the Senior Year show."

Troy and Jack both laughed together.

"So, your mom says you're in love with Gabriella." Jack continued.

"Whoa, that's a change in conversation." Troy stumbled.

"Sorry. Lot of things going through my mind, just seems like I've finally got your attention for a few minutes." Jack looked a little lost as he bounced the ball in front of him.

Troy slipped his hand in front of Jack's knees and stole the ball from him on the next bounce. "I think I am Dad. I really think I am. Does that surprise you?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders and watched his son perform the perfect layup. "Doesn't surprise me. Just, what made you realize it?" he questioned.

Troy thought as he put another couple of shots off the backboard from directly under the net. "Being away from her for a couple of weeks. Realizing I didn't want to be away from her. Realizing how much I've come to depend on her for the littlest things and how I've gotten used to her being there." He grabbed the ball and stared down at it as he held it in his hands.

"I don't know what love's supposed to feel like Dad. But I just don't want to be apart from her anymore than I have to be. I decided that over a year ago. That's why I started looking around at other colleges. I want to be there for her, and I want to be near her…cause I need her to be there for me too."

Jack looked at his son and took in a deep breath. "What happens if you get to Berkeley and she's at Stanford and something happens and you guys break up?"

He watched his son shiver at the thought and shake his head. "You're expecting me to say it's not gonna happen, aren't you?"

Again Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Just didn't know if you'd thought about that."

"I haven't. But I won't say it can't happen. If it does, I don't know what I'll do. All I know is that _we_ need to try this. I need to be closer to her and Berkeley does that for me…plus they're offering me a chance to do two things that I love. I can't ask for much more than that. She can't give up Stanford. I wouldn't ask her to do that."

Jack smiled and nodded at his son as he walked toward him at the goal. He put a hand on Troy's shoulder. "So Berkeley, and Gabriella, _are_ what _you_ want?"

Troy looked into his father's face and nodded quietly. Jack took the ball from Troy's hand and backed up a couple of steps before throwing it quickly back into Troy's surprised hands.

Jack looked at him with a sideways grin. "Game on Bolton. Game on."

----------

The father and son pair continued playing and practicing their basketball skills for another half hour along with good conversation. Troy realized that his dad's concerns were just that, concerns for him and his future. Sure he would've loved for Troy to follow through with their dream of attending the U of A, but Jack mainly just wanted to make sure that Troy had thought about this decision.

Jack realized that Troy had matured a lot over the past year. He had heard it in some of the arguments they had shared during that time. Troy had made good points about needing to make his own decisions; he had even helped Jack open his own mind about accepting others and other plans for the future.

Troy's father watched his face on the basketball court as they played and talked. At every opportunity there was a mention of Gabriella. Troy talked about her plans, the things she wanted to study, his hope for the time they would get to spend together. And with each mention came the softened look on his face and even in the darkness Jack could tell his son was nearly blushing.

"Troy, let's go back to that part about spending time together. How do you plan to do that with theater and basketball and your course load? Sure you won't be a thousand miles away, but it's still not just a couple of blocks over either." Jack accepted a pass from Troy and put the ball through the hoop.

Troy shrugged. "I'm not sure Dad. I know we won't get to see each other every day. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that. I'm a little scared about that. But it'll probably be good for us to be separated a little bit. But I also know that she'll just be a half hour or so away and I can get there and wrap her up in my arms if I need to."

Jack grabbed the ball again and held it still as he looked at his son. "Do you do that now? That…physical side of the relationship?" he watched Troy become nervous at his question.

Troy shook his head and looked down at the court. "Holding her? Hugging her? Yeah, that part we do. Especially if she's upset about something. She just likes to be held." Troy sighed and Jack noticed the content look on his face.

"Anything more than that?" Jack sent a bounce pass toward Troy's feet.

Troy grasped the ball and looked back at Jack's face. "No. Not…yet."

Jack felt his arms instinctively cross across his chest. "Don't rush it Son."

The younger Bolton felt the coach-like words come from his father's lips. "What if _she_ wants more?"

Jack dropped his arms and leaned his head back to ease the tension that was just beginning to build inside of him. He didn't want to go on the defensive, not now. And he didn't want to put Troy on that side of this talk either.

"Is she telling you that…that she wants more?" Jack asked as innocently as he could.

Troy thought a minute. "This is all new for both of us Dad." He laughed under his breath. "I think we're both sending each other signals that we want more. But neither one of us is sure what those signals mean."

Jack tried not to let his relief seem noticeable to Troy. He had actually wondered for over a month now if his son's relationship had taken that physical step. He had wondered if sex had been part of Troy's push to be closer to Gabriella. He had prayed that this smart young couple, the one that included his son, was able to use their brains over their bodies to make their decisions.

Now Jack believed his prayer was answered.

"Do you remember last summer, when you were feeling the pressures at work? You had to take some time to wrap your head around things and figure out what you really wanted. What did you decide then?" Jack questioned.

Troy thought back and closed his eyes remembering the time away from Gabriella and some of his other friends. "I wanted Gabriella. The scholarship didn't matter if I was gonna have to give her up and change me in the process."

"And everything inside of you told you that _that _was the right choice. Do you still believe in that decision?" Jack asked.

"Absolutely." Troy answered without a second thought.

"Those signals between you and Gabriella…you've gotta put even more thought into those than you put into the decision to decline that scholarship. Troy the scholarship was a potential part of your future. If you really love Gabriella, then she _is_ your future. You don't want to do something that will mess that up for either one of you." Jack stated pointedly.

Troy stood for a moment. "But…what if _we _feel like being together _now _is something we _need_ for our future, together?"

Jack shook his head. "I can't make that call for you. You and Gabriella have to decide that together." He dribbled the ball slowly as he thought about the fatherly advice that he wanted to give his son.

"Troy? This is gonna sound really stupid to you. And I want you to know right off that I'm not completely in the dark about this stuff…cause your mom and I have been together for more than 20 years now, ok?" Jack started with what he hoped would be a short lecture.

Troy grinned at his father. He was aware of where this conversation was going. Did he need to hear this? Probably. Would he learn from this? Probably. Would he enjoy putting this conversation into the blackmail box against his father? Definitely. He would add it to the 'birds and bees' conversation they had had several years before.

"So you're not an old curmudgeon who's unaware of sex and teenagers. Right?" Troy dared to pick at his father.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to give you some advice on this Mr. Inexperienced. From what you're telling me I'm quite sure that I know more about this sex subject than you do. I have actually experienced it you know."

This time Troy rolled his eyes and put his hands in the air. "I'm your only son…your only child…please don't kill me with some sex lecture about you and mom. Please." Troy begged with an embarrassed grin on his face.

Again Jack shot a look at his son but then continued. "I just want you to remember…and I'm not a prude by any means…there are other ways to enjoy each other, physically, without having…well…intercourse." Jack's obvious blush didn't necessarily amuse Troy, but it intrigued him. "I'm just saying…you mentioned _needing_ to be _together_. There's really only one reason that intercourse is actually needed. And you're the result of that."

Troy's eyebrows scrunched together. "As amusing as this is, you've lost me Dad."

Jack huffed and moved closer to his son as though their conversation were completely secret. "Sex…unprotected intercourse – I hate that word thank you so much for making me say it again – is _needed_ for making babies Troy. Yes it is _completely_ enjoyable…hopefully for both people involved. But that's really the only reason it's _needed_."

Troy lifted his chin in understanding. He nodded at his father and took the ball from him. "But there are other ways, you're saying, to enjoy each other?"

Jack wasn't sure if Troy was just trying to make him squirm or if this conversation was really necessary. He was trying to accept it as the latter reason. He took a deep breath and looked at his son. "Numerous ways. You have to experiment and see what you both like." The shiver that went down Jack's spine was enough to make him stop.

"Oh God. If your mother, or Maria heard me say that they'd both probably shoot me." He stopped to think about the things he had been saying. "Troy, just know that you don't have to do what everybody else is doing. You and Gabriella have to make your own choices. If you decide to go ahead and _make love_ then please use protection. I'm just telling you that there are other options. And with that I'm done."

Troy attempted to smile at his dad. "Thank you." He offered and Jack just nodded.

"Your mother doesn't need to know about this conversation." Jack instructed.

"Weird." Troy answered. "I figured you two must've talked about this. Because what you said is very similar to what she told me last night."

Jack's mouth fell open as Troy grinned in his direction, then turned and walked away.

----------

Troy heard the familiar ring tone sounding on his phone just a few minutes after getting back into the house. He looked at the clock. 6AM. Was she really wanting him now? He answered with a smile on his face. "Good morning Gorgeous. What are you doing up at this hour?"

Gabriella smiled on the other end of the line. "And here I thought I'd be waking you up. Hi Handsome. How'd you sleep?"

"Ah. Like a baby until my dad started shooting hoops about an hour ago." Troy answered honestly. He wandered from his room back into the kitchen where Jack was now sitting with the morning paper.

Jack glanced at his son, completely confused at the phone attached to Troy's ear. "Everything ok?" he whispered. Troy smiled and nodded.

"Are you serious?" Gabriella was surprised at Troy's Saturday morning wake up call. "He's not always out there shooting hoops at 5AM, right?"

Troy shook his head as though she could see him. "Nah. My Berkeley decision just had his mind rolling about stuff and he couldn't sleep."

Troy felt a change before Gabriella even spoke again. "He's not…he doesn't want to change your mind does he?" she seemed fearful again.

The younger Bolton glanced at his father and smiled before heading back into his own bedroom. "No, Baby, you don't have to worry about that. It wasn't anything like that. We're all good. Really, we are." He smiled. "So why are you calling me at six in the morning?"

Gabriella's voice became a little more sure but this time he could hear a hint of shyness. "I was hoping you could come pick me up? I miss you."

Troy's heart thumped inside his chest. "I miss you too. Can I take a shower first? How long before you're ready to go?"

Gabriella laughed. "I'm ready. I was up at five and couldn't get back to sleep. I can wait if you want to shower but it really doesn't matter to me." She didn't want to sound desperate, but in a way she was. She didn't want to miss a minute with him.

Troy thought for a second before answering. He could always come back home and shower later. If she wanted him there with her he wasn't about to deny her. "Give me half an hour, where should I meet you?"

Gabriella looked toward Maria who still seemed to be sleeping soundly. "I'll be down in the lobby. Is that ok?" she smiled.

"Be there in thirty. I love you." Troy smiled.

Gabriella returned the smile and he could feel it even over the phone. "Love you too Wildcat."

As soon as he could hit end on the phone Troy was back in the kitchen rummaging through a couple of the cabinets. Jack shook his head. "Do I even want to know?"

Troy laughed. "I jokingly told Gabriella that if she didn't stay here last night then I could pick her up at six this morning. She's apparently taking me up on that offer."

Jack nodded. "See. Told you they make us do weird things. What are you searching for? If you slam any of those cabinet doors your mother will be down here chewing on both of us."

Troy pulled out a picnic basket and held it up for his dad to see. "I'm taking breakfast with me." Jack watched as Troy loaded cereal, fruit, bowls and spoons into the basket along with a thermos of milk. He purposefully slammed the door on one cabinet just as he picked up the keys to his truck and prepared to leave.

Jack's eyes widened knowing that Lucille would likely be wakened by the sound. Troy grinned at him. "There you go Mr. Experience. Go pull some of that optional expertise out of your hat while I'm gone. Can't let Mom go into empty nest syndrome early, can you?"

Jack practically spewed juice through his nose as he watched his son smirk. He pointed toward the door. "Go before I ground you." He finally choked out.

Troy laughed and headed toward the front door. He wasn't completely surprised to see his mother coming down the steps.

"Troy? Where are you going? It's six in the morning is everything ok? Why do you have a picnic basket?" Lucille's sleepy voice went into overdrive as Troy opened the door.

"Talk to Dad. He'll explain." Troy met his mother on the second step, winked at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Have I mentioned lately that I love you guys?" And with that her son grinned and nearly ran to his beat-up truck at the curb.

----------

Gabriella moved quietly over to her mother whose eyes were still shut and her breath was even as she slept. She bent over and kissed Maria on the cheek lightly then placed the note on the alarm clock where her mother would surely see it when the alarm went off sometime later.

She turned to leave the room grabbing her purse and the prescription Maria had given her last night. She tucked the paper into her wallet with a thought that if she and Troy were heading in that direction, they might as well make the pharmacy run together too.

As she ever-so-quietly turned the door knob she heard Maria shift in the bed. "Briella?"

"Over here Mom." She answered knowingly.

"Where are you going? What time is it?" Maria asked.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I just…I couldn't sleep. I called Troy and he's going to come get me and we'll go get breakfast or something. I left a note on the clock. I'll check in with you later in the morning, ok?" Gabriella hoped Maria wouldn't change her plans.

"For the first time in your life you are sneaking out to meet a boy. Unless of course _you _were adept at climbing the tree at our previous house. I _know _Troy used it quite often to sneak in and out…but I didn't think you used it." She sat up in bed trying to get her bearings in the dark room.

Gabriella stepped back into the room and sat down silently at the foot of Maria's bed. "You knew Troy was there?"

Maria rubbed her hands over her face and pushed some hair out of her eyes. "Was it more often than just the 'on the road' basketball game nights?"

Gabriella smiled. "Yeah."

"And still I'm not too late in giving you that prescription?" Maria asked for reassurance.

"No Mama. You aren't too late. I promise you aren't." Gabriella answered with complete honesty in her voice. "Can I go now? Troy will be here in just a few minutes."

Maria reached for her daughter's hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "Will you be back here before the show tonight?"

Gabriella thought for a minute. "Probably not. My costumes are at the school. We'll probably just hang out at Troy's house or go to Taylor's or to the mall or something. Don't wait around for me. I'll call if I'm heading back this way, ok?"

Maria nodded and let go of Gabriella's hand. "Briella, be careful. Don't let your heart outthink your mind."

Gabriella looked down at the bed and nodded her head. "I'll try not to Mom. And I promise we'll be careful."

Maria watched as Gabriella left the room and sighed. Her little girl was growing up. And a lot of grown-up choices seemed to be hitting her all at once. Maria hoped she had given her daughter enough information to handle it all without being overwhelmed.

She sighed again as she remembered that her daughter wasn't the only person who needed to claim responsibility in some of those decisions. She pulled her cell phone from the bedside table and focused her eyes on the dim light enough to type a text message.

----------

Troy pulled his truck underneath the awning of the main doors of the hotel. He looked down at what he was wearing, a hooded sweatshirt, t-shirt underneath and the sweats that he had thrown on to shoot hoops with his dad. Maybe he should've showered.

He opened the door and climbed out of the vehicle just as his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He smiled, expecting a 'W_here are you?_' text from his girlfriend. Instead a somewhat pointed instruction was shining at him from Maria Montez.

_'Troy, take care of my baby girl. She's all I have. I'm trusting you to take care of her…for a long time.'_

Troy read the message a dozen times before he let himself wander into the hotel lobby. His eyes were just a little glazed when they finally met Gabriella's as she came toward him.

There was no one else in the lobby except for the desk staff but Gabriella worked to keep herself under control as she nearly skipped toward her boyfriend. They embraced each other gently and shared a quick kiss making her smile from ear to ear. Troy held up the phone to show her the message he had just received and watched the redness grow in her cheeks, almost as brightly as her smile.

"What exactly did you two talk about after you left my house last night? What had you up at five this morning? And why is Maria sending me messages about taking care of you?"

Gabriella took Troy's hand and leaned her head against his shoulder as they made their way out of the hotel and back to his truck. Troy squeezed her hand and placed several kisses to the top of her head then opened the passenger door and helped her climb in. "Nice hoodie." He added with a grin. "Number 14. I hear he's a good player. Have you ever seen him in action?"

Gabriella had to laugh at his question and waited for Troy to climb in the driver's side and push the key into the ignition. "Well, I guess that kinda depends on what kind of action you're referring to." She watched as Troy's head whipped around and his eyes widened in her direction.

"I assume we need to continue the discussion that we started last night in the tree house?" Troy tried to focus on simply getting them and the truck out of the hotel parking lot.

Gabriella sighed. "That's what Mom and I discussed last night." She sucked in a deep breath. "Before we get into that…well, I'm guessing that's why she sent you the message. But I'd rather we not go into that subject again here in your truck. Could be a little, dangerous, I'm guessing."

Troy looked at her and smiled. "So are we supposed to play a game of 'Punch Buggy' at 6:30 in the morning to avoid the topic? And where are we going anyway?"

Gabriella turned and blinked at him using her long dark eyelashes. "You were the one who suggested picking me up this early. I thought you had a plan."

"My _suggestion_ was a joke." He glanced toward her with a half smirk on his face.

She pouted at him. "Fine, then let's just hit the Waffle House and have breakfast and you can take me back to the hotel." She feigned a frustrated voice.

Troy could tell she wanted to say more. Not to mention the fact that he _did_ have a plan. One that would likely end up absorbing the next several hours if he had his way. But he decided to wait and see what she had to say before sharing any of his own thoughts.

"What?" he asked.

"What, what?" Gabriella looked at him and attempted to squint her eyes as a pretense of her fake anger.

"You have something else to say. I'm not taking you to Waffle House, but you have to tell me what else you're thinking before you get anything more out of me." He smiled at her.

"You do have something planned don't you?" Gabriella's grin returned as she saw a mischievous smile cross Troy's face. She turned back around and looked out the windshield of the truck. "I had to take a cold shower this morning…because I was dreaming about you."

Troy's face turned red. He glanced toward Gabriella but refused to turn his astonished eyes to look at her. "Really?"

Gabriella turned in her seat to face him with a blushing grin. "Really."

"Did the cold shower do any good for you?" Troy was quite curious.

"Kinda. Although I kept thinking that there had to be a much easier way to satisfy that feeling." She brushed her fingertips over her thighs as the same sensation started to creep over her again.

Troy let out a laugh. "I could never get the water cold enough." He looked over at his girlfriend and shrugged his shoulders.

Gabriella's eyes grew larger. "So what _do_ you do?"

She watched Troy shift in the seat and wondered if even this conversation was putting him in an awkward position. "Most of the time I just have to get my mind on something else, find something to distract me, and just…let it go away by itself. But a couple of times lately…" his voice softened knowing that he had to admit this to her, "I've taken care of _it _by myself."

Her brown eyes shifted from Troy's face to his crotch and then back out the window. Then, she allowed herself to look back toward the zipper on his jeans. "I didn't even realize…you mean, because of me?" she wondered quietly but out loud none the less.

Troy worked to smile at her. He borrowed a line from their tree house conversation. "We're supposed to be able to talk about this. But if makes you uncomfortable, I'll stop. I just wanted to let you know. You have a really strong effect on me Gabriella."

She nodded and smiled back at him. "I _felt_ that last night. Troy, I'm so naïve when it comes to sex. I had no idea that I was getting you all worked up and then just…just… I didn't mean to tease you like that. I'm sorry."

Troy took one hand off the steering wheel and reached over to grab her hand. "Please don't be sorry. Gabriella, it's an amazing feeling. And you don't even have to do anything. Sometimes it's just when I'm around you. We can be at the movies, just holding hands, even sometimes when we're with Chad and Tay and the gang. I'll look over at you and you are laughing and push some of your hair back behind your ear and I just have to stop a minute to catch my breath. The next thing I know I'm in the kitchen or bathroom splashing cold water on my face and trying to get, distracted."

His smile was completely shy as he admitted some of his secrets to his girlfriend.

She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. "We still have a lot to learn about each other don't we?"

Troy nodded and she felt a little sweat on the palm of his hand. "Are you, um, uncomfortable, right now?" She asked and pulled his hand into her lap so she could hold it with both of her hands.

He squeezed his eyelids tight for a moment. Her curious words were having that strong effect on him too. "A little." He wiggled his hand out of hers and then let it sit on her thigh. "I'm telling you. I'm not _experienced_ at this either. But no matter how naïve you think you are…you don't even have to touch me to get me all riled up."

Gabriella felt her own heat rising just at his words. "Troy, please tell me we're going somewhere where we can be alone for a while." She closed her eyes and Troy felt her leg beginning to twitch under his fingers. "I need you to touch me and I want to touch you."

She waited until they made eye contact so that Troy could see the desire that he had created, melting her from the inside out. Her eyes had darkened, her voice was nearly husky and she was obviously breathless. Troy was relieved to find himself turning the truck onto an all-too-familiar street.

His heart pounded in his chest as he continued to look at her, staring at him. She began to recognize her surroundings. "Troy, where are we going? Where are you taking me?"

"Some place very familiar." He finally told her through his scratchy throat. "A place where I think we'll both be comfortable…to do…whatever we need to do."

He pulled the truck into the driveway of a house with a real estate sign out front. As he turned off the engine Troy knew what to expect next. He unbuckled Gabriella's seat belt and let her scoot across the seat toward him. With two arms open wide he pulled her to him and began to kiss the tears from her face. "This is still your home Gabriella. It always will be. I couldn't think of a better place for us to get to know each other better. Can you?" Troy whispered into her ear.

She shook her head and looked up at him. "But how do you plan to get in?" She laughed just a little. "Please tell me you don't expect me to climb the tree up to the balcony?"

Troy laughed with her and held up his key chain. "Did you know that Maria gave me a key to your house when she went away for those two weeks in February? She told me that if anything came up, like a storm or if you just called and were scared, I had her permission to use this key to come and get you."

Gabriella put her hand on his cheek and looked into his shining blue eyes. "You climbed the tree in the back yard every night for that entire two weeks."

"Unlocking the front door and walking in is no challenge. Besides if I had done that it probably would've scared the pee out of you. You were waiting for me in your bedroom every night, not in the living room or kitchen if I remember correctly." Troy added to the memory."

She placed her other hand behind his neck and proceeded to push her lips up to meet his. "How do you know this key still works?" her breath was warm against his face and Troy closed his eyes as he just soaked in the feeling of being with her.

"Do you trust me?"

"With every part of me." She answered as their lips continued to touch and push against each other.

Troy pulled away and smiled at her as he opened the driver's side door and helped her get out. She leaned against him and laughed as she had to hold onto him until the strength returned to her legs. "You've already got me melting in your hands. Have I mentioned that I love you?"

He smiled at her and reached into the bed of the truck as she kept a strong grip on his arm. Much to Gabriella's surprise he pulled out two blankets, two pillows and the picnic basket. "As long as we don't get caught breaking and entering, I've got breakfast and I think we have other things to keep us occupied for a while. Just say a little prayer that your real estate agent isn't showing the house to anyone this morning."

Gabriella grinned and then laughed. "You don't think the house would sell if a potential buyer came through and caught us in some compromising position?"

Troy joined her laughter as they headed toward the front door of the nearly empty house. "Let's just say I'd rather keep our learning experiences between just the two of us."

And somehow, after unlocking the door, Troy managed to pick up Gabriella, cradle her in his arms and carry her back into the house where they already shared many fond memories…and on this day they planned to share even more.

**__________**


	12. Experimenting

**First and foremost...this chapter is rated MMM. I'll say it again, this chapter is rated MMM. I hope that gets my point across.  
Second... I own nothing HSM, not the characters, not the plot, not the actors or production crew who brought this generation-changing phenomena into our lives! I've simply contributed to the phenomena and their wealth by purchasing DVD's, CD's, magazines and trinkets to spur my obsession! ;)  
Third and finally, a P.C. refresher: In the last chapter Troy had picked Gabriella up at 6am from her hotel and surprised her by taking her back to her former house for breakfast and to continue the conversation/activities they had begun in the treehouse the previous night. -Does that help get your mind ramped up for this chapter?**

**Did I mention...rated M?  
Thank you for reading...please send me your thoughts & reviews or PM's...they are ALWAYS welcome and feed my addiction! And for goodness sake, if anyone catches any glimpse of Zanessa together while V's back in L.A., PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know. KTZLF! -adc  
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Troy looked at the empty walls of the house that had held numerous pictures on his previous visit there. He had helped pack up Gabriella's room and some of their kitchen stuff but hadn't been back in the house since the moving truck had been filled. When he finally put Gabriella back on her feet she took him by the hand and instinctively made her way up the steps to her former bedroom.

She smiled as she pulled Troy in behind her. "I didn't think I'd ever be back in here. Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek.

Troy smiled back at her and looked around the room. He put the picnic basket down on the floor and proceeded to lay out one of the blankets and tossed the pillows down. Gabriella sat down on the blanket and pulled the basket toward her. "You ok Wildcat?"

He smiled toward her again. "Just feels a little empty in here, that's all."

She looked around and then proceeded to open the basket and peek inside. "New houses are always like this Troy. Until you put your own stuff in them they are empty and kinda cold." She patted the blanket beside her and Troy sat down leaning in toward her and looking into the basket.

"So, if we get warmed up in here together…" he placed a soft kiss under her ear and listened to her giggle. "Do we make this our house?"

Her giggle continued as she pushed against him with her shoulder. "Spontaneity and subtlety are not your strong points are they Wildcat?"

"Hey, I beg to differ with you." He protested and placed more soft kisses against her earlobe. "I may not be subtle…but how much more spontaneous can I be, bringing you back to a home that you adore and providing breakfast to boot?"

She tilted her head to the side as Troy found a spot that was sensitive but far from ticklish. He knew he had found a practical gold mine when her giggle turned to a breathless sigh.

"So you like that?" Troy whispered into her ear as he ran his index finger over the same spot.

"Mm-hmmm." She closed her eyes and felt his lips return to that spot.

Troy grinned as he felt her temperature heat up and pulled away again. "So do you want to eat?" his grin persisted as he placed several kisses on her cheek just beyond her ear.

Gabriella kicked off her shoes and used her toes to push the picnic basket off the blanket and out of reach. She turned to face Troy. "I don't want food. I want you."

Troy looked into her face and let the smile drop from his mouth. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. He tried to hold back as he skimmed his tongue across her lips and shifted so he could pull Gabriella onto his lap.

Her lips parted and she allowed her own tongue to begin tangling with his. She felt herself reach for the zipper on his jacket and worked to shuck it off his shoulders. When her hands returned to his t-shirt and began lifting it over his head she stalled.

Troy watched her, just a little amused, but becoming immensely aroused. Gabriella bit her lip as she raised her eyes to look at him. "I'm sorry. I need to slow down. I don't know what's gotten into me." She blushed but kept her dark brown eyes focused on Troy's icy blues as he raised a hand and cupped her cheek.

He used his other hand to take one of hers and place it on his bare chest. She could feel his quickened heart rate under her fingertips and pressed harder onto his skin. She had touched his bare chest before. He had held her against him before. But this morning it felt hot, and smooth, and even more inviting to her touch.

"We've got time. There's no need to rush anything. And we need to talk to each other while we're exploring and experimenting." Troy brushed his fingers through her hair and saw the gentle smile appear.

"That sounds like your mom talking." She looked down at her hands and let her fingers begin to wander around his exposed chest and abdomen.

"Mom and Dad, if you must know." His breath was already heavy just from the feel of her hands on him.

"They said it's ok for us to explore and experiment?" she wondered curiously as her fingertips found his hardened nipples to exploit.

"Ummm-hmmm" Troy practically moaned at her teasing actions. "What'd Maria say to you?" he somehow managed to ask.

"My mother," she felt her own heart rate increase as she delicately pinched his darkened areolas and watched his reaction, "presented me with a prescription for birth control pills."

"Really?" Troy aimlessly answered. He was too far involved in her touch instead of her voice.

"Really." Gabriella answered and continued moving her hands around on his skin. From her perch on his lap she could feel exactly what her touch was doing to him. With Troy's eyes closed she dared to look toward the crotch of his sweat pants and was somewhat frustrated that she could see a hint of what she was feeling.

Troy felt a slight scratch from her fingernails and opened his eyes in time to see where Gabriella's sight was focused. He took a deep breath and thought about what she had just told him.

"G-Gabriella…B-Baby." He dared to reach up and tilt her chin so that she was looking at him again. Her bottom lip was held between her teeth and her face was obviously flushed. "Don't be embarrassed."

"I…I'm not embarrassed." She whispered to him as her eyes lifted back to his. "I'm just not sure what to do." She swallowed gently and tried to take a deep breath as she raised one of her hands to run through Troy's hair.

"What do you want to do?" he asked her with a somewhat pleading voice.

Gabriella shifted herself around so that she could put her head on his shoulder, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. "What do I want to do?" she repeated his words. She pulled her hand from his hair and let it drift down his neck and across his chest. "I don't even know where to begin." She pulled her thumbnail to her lips just trying to imagine something to say.

"Can we try something?" Troy offered, suddenly feeling a little selfish.

After feeling her entire body tense at his question he felt her nod against his shoulder. "Like what?" she asked shyly.

"Kiss me again. Then let your hands wander. I want you to touch me Gabriella. You don't know how badly I want you to. But if it doesn't feel right to you, it's ok. And I'm not going to ask you to do anything you don't want to do." Troy took a moment to pull back and lifted her chin so he could see her face. "You're not on birth control yet, right?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, not yet." She knew he was well aware of that answer.

"Then we're not making love here this morning. That's a given." Troy let his fingers move through her curls caressing the strands between his fingers.

"But…" it was Gabriella's weak attempt to tell him she was considering it.

Troy shook his head. "No buts. Not right now. Until we both have protection, it's completely out of the question." He noted Gabriella's pout. "Quit pouting and kiss me, please." He smiled.

Their soft lips met again, opened again and their hesitant tongues moved together again. This time though, as Gabriella felt the heated skin of Troy's chest beneath her fingertips she didn't stop at his nipples. She first moved her left hand to the back of his neck to pull his face even closer to hers.

Her other hand dared to dip lower feeling the outlines of his muscles and tracing his navel so that she could feel the thin line of course hairs that led to the stretching fabric of his sweatpants. Her fingers moved lower, outside the cotton fabric and for the first time Gabriella's fingers touched the outline of his hardened penis.

Troy nearly bit down on her tongue as her index finger drew a thin line down his shaft to his balls. He sucked in a hissing breath as she let her fingertips slide over the tender, overly-sensitive sack at his base. That was when their kiss broke and she retracted her hand slowly.

She watched Troy's eyelids as they fluttered open. "Don't stop, please." He reached for her hand and placed it back over the taut material. "That felt so good." He gasped as she started the sensual touch again.

Troy struggled to keep his balance simply sitting up while her fingers danced slowly around his still-covered manhood. As much as he wanted to beg her to slide her hand beneath his clothing he was delighted with her current actions.

Gabriella had moved herself off his lap and was sitting at his side as she continued caressing him and joined him for another deep, prolonged kiss. She felt the wetness beginning in her own body when she ran her thumb across Troy's tip and felt moisture seeping through the material of his sweats.

She pulled away from their kiss and moistened her lips with her tongue as she looked at his face. God he was gorgeous. She thought about Maria's words, "_don't let your heart outthink your head."_ And she thought about Troy's words. They wouldn't make love this morning. But nothing was stopping her from saying or trying some of the things she had thought about.

"Lay down Wildcat." She ordered softly.

Troy opened his eyes as she gently urged him backwards. She offered him a pillow to place under his head. Troy relaxed as he lay back, crooking one of his arms under his head so that he could watch what she was doing.

He didn't say a word as Gabriella cupped her hand over his length and gently pressed the heel of her palm against him. They both watched her hand as her fingers gingerly wrapped around him and stroked lightly. Troy's heavy breath and quiet moan were enough to let her know that he liked what she was doing.

"Does…does that hurt at all?" she questioned.

"No Baby. Not at all. That feels…perfect." Troy struggled to whisper.

"I…I want to see…him." Gabriella timidly admitted.

Troy's breathing quickened as his heart rate raced in his chest. The thought of her touching him, actually her skin against the thin stretched skin of his penis was almost enough to send him into an orgasm before it actually happened.

He raised his head enough to accept her lips again for another searing kiss. Troy grasped her hair as their tongues battled. For just a minute Gabriella forgot her request. Until she felt Troy's grip on her head loosen and his hand moved. She sat back on her knees, still fully clothed and watched as her boyfriend hooked his thumbs into the elastic waistbands of his pants and underwear.

Troy took a deep breath and smiled sheepishly at his girlfriend. "Promise me something?" he pushed the clothing ever so slightly down his body.

"Hmmm?" Gabriella wondered as she was already envisioning what he was about to reveal.

"No laughing at the little guy." He attempted to joke.

Gabriella shifted her eyes away from his hands momentarily to look into his smiling face. Troy's eyes looked a little nervous. "Troy, from what I've been feeling…your _Wildcat _is anything but little. Now stop teasing me."

Troy smiled at her with glazed eyes as he pushed his pants and boxers down his legs revealing his entire length to Gabriella's pleasure.

To Troy's surprise, at the same time, Gabriella grasped the hem of his hoodie that she was wearing and pulled it up over her body allowing Troy to see her chest, now only covered by a scant, lacy bra.

Very few times in his life did Troy remember feeling vulnerable. He was sure of himself. Some people would even call him cocky at times. But with Gabriella he felt vulnerable. Laying there completely naked in front of her he knew he was at her mercy and completely vulnerable.

Gabriella knew Troy's eyes were watching her. She wasn't sure why she had removed the shirt she was wearing except that she wanted to make the playing field a little more even. Even with nervous adrenaline running through her body she felt in control of this situation. Troy was doing that for her, letting her have control. So now her mind raced to find the next move.

She stared. She couldn't help herself. She made straight A's in biology, human anatomy and even in sex education. But no drawing or photograph in any book could compare to the perfect specimen of an aroused man that was there right in front of her.

Her eyes glazed as she stared at his lower body. She soaked in the shape of his pelvis, his hips, his strong thighs. She saw the outlines of his abdominal muscles as he sucked in a breath. And she noted again his belly button…an 'innie'…a sexy little divot in his body that simply pulled her eyes to the other body part that she had just been caressing.

Troy watched as she stayed perched on her knees and reached a somewhat shaky hand toward his erection. And when her fingers finally touched his tip he felt his hips push upwards toward her, already wanting more. He closed his eyes and nearly gritted his teeth as she ran her fingers up and down his penis just to get familiar with it.

After just a few moments of her light , teasing touch Troy felt Gabriella shift beside him. She pulled her hand away just long enough to stretch her own legs out beside him. Troy placed the second pillow next to his and then offered her his shoulder as added support. Gabriella snuggled warmly against him, kissed a spot between his shoulder and his breast and put her head down on it. Then she slid her hand back down his body.

Her petting was more sure as her hand returned to his hardness. She felt the heated liquid that began to bubble from his tip. She began to use that lubrication, moving it seductively around on his shaft, touching the ridge around his tip, feeling the defined line that ran all the way down to his testicles. And it wasn't hard to tell that Troy was enjoying her touch. She was watching her hand, not his face, but his sounds and movements were obviously pleased.

When her fingers finally wrapped around him and gave a first firm stroke Troy jerked and moaned. "Oh. My. God."

Gabriella stopped but didn't release him. She smiled shyly as Troy rolled his body toward her, still firmly in her grasp. "Don't ever…" she turned her face upwards towards Troy's and began to kiss along his clenched jawbone, "let me hear you refer to this Wildcat as 'little'." She gently squeezed him and stroked again.

Troy pushed his hips toward her then pulled back, beginning to move himself in her grasp. He turned his face to meet hers and lunged for her lips finally allowing their bodies to duel for control.

"What else can I do?" Gabriella asked between kisses. "Is this…is this how _you_ do it?" her breathless voice whispered.

Troy kissed her again and tried his best to smile at her. "Gabriella. This is a hundred times better than when _I_ do it. With your hand around me…I never want to do this myself again." His hips continued moving slowly, loving the feel of her small hand wrapped around him. His sensitive skin moved up and down while he moved his tip within her grasp.

"Can I…?" Troy moved his hand from her arm over to her lace covered breast. He could feel the hardened tip of her nipple underneath the material. Gabriella groaned out loud as he finally touched her. Her grip tightened around his penis as Troy flicked his fingertip over her peak.

"Don't…not too tight." He reached down toward her hand, encouraging her to loosen up. Then he began moving again and brought his hand back to her breast.

"Sorry. You're just…touch me again Troy." Gabriella's awareness of everything else around her was just about gone.

"Do you like that?" he kneaded her entire breast in his hand as Gabriella groaned again.

"Troy, move, uh…my bra…I just…move it ok?" she struggled to tell him what she wanted. Troy smiled and moved to kiss her again. The vulnerability was gone. He was moving in her grasp and she wanted him to touch her.

Troy didn't hesitate to do what she instructed. His fingers pushed aside the strap of her bra and pulled it down her arm. He watched intently as his actions pulled the cup away from her skin and revealed her excited nipple to his eyes.

"You are beautiful." He somehow whispered as he quietly moaned and flicked her darkened point with the tip of his middle finger.

Her hand began to stroke him more quickly as Troy toyed with her breast.

"Baby, slow down. You…you're gonna make me…" his voice trailed off concentrating on her actions instead of his words.

"It's okay to say it. What am I doing to you Wildcat?" she nearly purred against his lips as they continued touching and kissing.

"You're gonna make me…cum…Gabriella…I don't want to yet though. This feels too good."

"Should I stop?" Gabriella let go of him and let her hand wander around his waist, up over his stomach and back to his chest. She pressed on his chest and raised her half naked body over him. Troy shook his head but took the opportunity to reach around her and unhook the two clasps of her bra to remove it.

"Don't you dare stop." Troy grinned at her as he placed his hand on hers and tried to urge it back down his body. Gabriella draped one still-covered leg over Troy's as she lowered herself down to kiss him again.

Troy's hands found their way to her breasts causing a more heated reaction than he expected. Her moan was a loud gasp and he felt her legs clench around his thigh as she reached his excited length again.

The kiss they shared as they touched and explored was heated yet soft and full of love. They spent the next half hour just sharing gentle caresses, intimate touches and words to let each other know what they liked and what they wanted from each other. "I love you" was something they both repeated with soft smiles and moans of complete pleasure.

"Something's still not quite right here." Gabriella mentioned after Troy started moving his hips again as she sensuously grasped his length and pumped her hand along with his movements. "Troy…why do I still have clothes on?"

Troy had let his hand wander to her thighs and raked his fingers over the heated area between her legs. He had even let his fingers push below the softness of her sweatpants to just the edge of her panties. Gabriella's wetness was obvious to her, uncomfortably obvious, especially now that Troy seemed so close to his release.

He took a deep breath and spread his hand along her cheek brushing her hair. "Because I don't know if I could stop myself…I would never force myself on you. But with your pants still on…Gabriella…" He breathed deeply again. "The thought of being, inside of you, is soooo tempting. I don't want to take any chances of losing control." He leaned forward and kissed her lips.

"Are you ok?" Troy asked sincerely, hoping she wasn't upset that he was enjoying this immense pleasure by himself at the moment.

"I…I'm wet." She bit on her bottom lip and watched Troy suck in yet another aroused breath.

"Then, if I remember correctly, we're both doing something right." Troy rolled their bodies over so that he was finally on top of Gabriella's small frame. "Very right." He punctuated his words with a kiss to her lips and then moved his mouth down to her breasts sucking them each between his lips and flicking his tongue over them.

Gabriella gasped and held her breath. "I don't know if I can stand to keep these on until you finish Wildcat. It's too hot in here. I want you to…feel…how wet I am. I need you to touch me, my…" Her embarrassment came back just a touch, not knowing the words she wanted to use.

It was Troy's turn to encourage her. "You can say it. Whatever you want to say. Gabriella, Baby, it's just us. Whatever word you use is just gonna turn me on even more. This is just…between…us." He continued kissing her as she thought. "What part of you do you want me to touch?"

"I want to feel your fingers on my lips…" she answered in a whisper, "…between my legs." She watched Troy's reaction and felt him press himself against her thigh. "Please Troy, let me take my pants off at least."

She loved how protective he was being. She loved that he didn't want to take any chances with her. But she desperately needed to feel his skin against hers, below the belt.

"You are wearing underwear, right?" Troy ventured to ask.

"Yes Silly." She answered. "I'm not going commando. Not even for you…not yet at least." She giggled while Troy raised himself up, sat up on his knees, and hooked his index fingers into the waistband of her sweats.

"Hmph." He dared to act put-out by her last comment. "I'd do it for you."

Gabriella looked at him and grinned. "Well now that I know what I can do to you, without even touching you…maybe I'll ask you to do that a few times so I can take advantage of you. Just means you'd have to wear your jeans at the right level instead of sagging down. You wouldn't want to reveal too much to anybody else now would you?"

Troy shook his head and returned her grin. He tugged at the material and slid it down her legs. The bikini underwear she had chosen was covering just enough to keep Troy from spreading her legs and burying himself inside of her.

He straddled her right thigh and began to push his hard length against her. His balls rubbing against her caused them both to groan in pleasure. And when Troy finally pulled her panties to the side and touched her wetness Gabriella practically cried out.

"That's…Oh God Troy…that's…right there, on my spot…mmm yeah." Her voice caused Troy's mind to go numb.

It only took Gabriella's body a few seconds before it began shaking nearly uncontrollably. Troy watched her head move back and forth on the pillow as her thighs clenched around his hand. His fingers kept moving in her wet heat hoping and praying that her feelings were as pleasure-filled as the sight he was witnessing.

She reached for his penis and began pumping as gently as she could as her body let loose. When she stilled Troy leaned down to command another kiss from her breathless lips. "That was _THE_ _sexiest_ thing I have ever seen." He exclaimed as his tongue dipped into her mouth. "Are you okay?" he asked as she brought one hand up and covered her eyes.

He used his index finger to push a few strands of dampened hair off her forehead and continued kissing her softly. "Briella?" He used her mom's nickname to try and get her attention.

Gabriella finally moved her hand and opened her eyes to look at him. She lifted her hand almost limply and stroked her thumb over his cheek. Troy watched her, just a bit worried, until she smiled at him. Her lips widened completely across her face before she spoke to him. "That. Was. Amazing."

"Really?" Troy questioned while his fingers kept caressing around her face.

"_Oh Yeah." _Gabriella couldn't help but blush a little as her nearly nude body came down from the high that he had just provided for her. "Thank you." She offered shyly.

"My turn?" Troy requested hopefully and watched as Gabriella bit her bottom lip and nodded her head. The morning had already been more than amazing. Watching Troy feel this ultimate pleasure would only add to the perfection.

Gabriella rolled onto her side and pushed Troy over onto his back. She again straddled his thigh, pushing her breasts against his chest and her soaked core against the hairs on his leg. She watched his face as she again took his hardened length in her hand and stroked him.

"Will this do it? If…if I go faster… Or do you have another idea?" she asked as his eyes glazed over again.

"You'll tell me if you don't want to do something, right?" Troy whispered.

"Promise." She stated as she kissed him again and rubbed her still sensitive heat against his thigh.

"Can I…_go_…between your breasts?" his breath quickened at the thought.

"How…how do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Lie back and squeeze your breasts together. It'll make a tight spot for me. I won't put all my weight on you. I swear I won't." Troy tried to explain as she scrunched her eyebrows together in thought.

He gave her a moment to consider what he was requesting. When she moved herself off of him and let go of him again Troy knew his part in this experiment wouldn't take much longer.

They watched each other closely as Gabriella lay her body back and situated her head onto the pillows. Troy straddled her waist and then moved up until his erect shaft was lying between her breasts.

He leaned down and kissed her lips and touched her breasts again with his fingers before he began to slide himself back and forth against the skin between her breasts. "Squeeze them together, please?" He requested and watched as her own fingers touched her breasts and pushed them together.

The tight cavern that formed was exactly what Troy had imagined. He bent his head enough to see himself moving, as Gabriella touched her own nipples. He groaned as his breath quickened along with his strokes.

Gabriella groaned too. The feel of his hardness against her, his weight pressing down on her and the stimulation from her own hands caused another round of wetness to course from her own heat.

She watched along with Troy as he gave two agonizingly slow strokes and then practically growled as the white liquid streamed from the tiny slit on his tip. She released her breasts as he moved just a few more times to empty himself there on her chest.

In just seconds he rolled to the side of her and fell onto his back throwing a forearm over his eyes and trying to regain his breath. He swallowed roughly and jerked slightly when Gabriella reached out a hand just to touch his arm.

"Wildcat?" she ventured to ask softly.

"Huh?" his completely irrational, breathless reply.

"Was that ok?" Gabriella shyly asked for some indication of his pleasure.

Troy's near breathless chuckle didn't help her at first. "What were the words you used? That was_ absolutely_ amazing." He turned his head to the side to see her staring at him.

He moved his forearm away from his eyes and reached over to caress her grinning face. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

Gabriella nodded as her smile widened. "When can we do it again?"

Troy smiled back at her, turned on his side and moved toward her again to kiss her. "Sorry Baby, I know I'm 18, but after your amazing performance, this Wildcat needs a little time to recuperate. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Gabriella shook her head and ran her fingers through Troy's sweat-dampened hair. "I don't think I've seen you this sweaty even after a championship basketball game." She giggled.

Troy finally caught his breath and laughed with her. "I've just used muscles that I never even knew existed. By the way Hot Stuff, you're pretty sweaty too." They both looked down at her naked chest and the evidence Troy had left behind.

They lay there for just another few minutes in silence, looking over each other's bodies and holding hands. "Hey Wildcat?" Gabriella's mind was finally thinking slightly rationally again.

"Yeah Baby?"

"In all of your brilliant planning for this lovely occasion…did you have any thoughts about how we're supposed to get cleaned up?"

Troy thought about the towel that was in his truck…the greasy, oil-stained towel. He thought about how brilliantly this early morning hour had worked out for both of them and the insane pleasure they had both felt over the past hour. He thought about the warmth that was once again filling this empty house.

This. _Empty_. House.

No towels in the linen closet. No spare clothes in the bedroom closet. He looked at her with wide, yet innocent, blue eyes and a deceptive grin before he grabbed the t-shirt he had worn under his hooded sweatshirt. "Will this do?"

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	13. Coach

**Well this one is a long time coming. Thanks for your patience! As with the last few chapters of this story, I'm jumping around. If you look back at the last chapter you'd see that it takes place the weekend of the senior musical. This chapter does follow that one, falling somewhere around graduation weekend. But the setting and content are quite different from those last few chapters. I hope that makes sense. This one is far from M rated...I would even put this at a K or K+.**

**Thanks again for all your support and encouragement on the various stories I have going right now! I love your comments, they feed my Z & V addiction! So please, read, enjoy - hopefully! - and toss me a review or a PM. Especially if you see something Zanessa related floating out there, let me know! I appreciate it!**

**As always, I own nothing of HSM or any of the actors/actresses or amazing production crew that brought this generation-changing phenomena into our lives...except four tubs full of mementos. KTZLF! -adc

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He stood at the gymnasium doors looking at a sight that made him grin. The young lady stood at the free throw line on the opposite side of the wooden floor from him with her back turned. She had no clue he was watching.

Instead she was shooting near-perfect free throws with the well-worn ball. Each time it swished through the net she retrieved it, backpedaled and found the same spot behind the foul line. The coach was curious about his son's girlfriend's current location and her activity. He was impressed at her abilities with the basketball. But he didn't want to interrupt. She looked intent, determined and focused.

He watched her make more than a dozen shots before one ball hit the backboard, skimmed the rim and rolled to the side. Only then did he get a hint of her real attitude. Gabriella grabbed the ball as it bounced on the floor and used all the strength in her small stature to slam it to the ground.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed breathlessly as she put her hands on her hips. Still as she turned her body to the side she didn't see the man standing in the opposite door. She wiped her hands on her jeans and then leaned her body over, bringing both hands to her face and cupping them over her eyes, nose and mouth.

The coach wasn't familiar with that pose on Gabriella Montez. He could see now, though, as her body slightly jerked up and down, she was crying.

The smile left his face as he took just a few steps into the gym. He watched her pull her hands down her face and then simply kneel on the sideline clutching the ball. As he reached half court he could see the tearstains that had pulled the mascara from her eyelashes and washed it down her cheeks.

"Gabriella?" He spoke gently just to let her know that she was no longer alone.

The teen looked quickly in his direction and then dropped her head hurriedly turning her back on him once more. "Um Coach Bolton…I…I'm sorry. I'll get off the court. I didn't know it was needed."

Jack took a few more steps until he was standing right beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. There's nothing going on in here. I just heard the ball and looked in."

They stood for another silent moment until Jack spoke up again. "Where'd you learn to shoot free throws like that?" he asked quietly just trying to gain the girl's attention.

Gabriella laughed a little through her tears and snuck a look at the Coach's face. With his hand still on her shoulder she shrugged and tried to smile. "Where else?" she asked him as though it was as obvious as the nose on his face.

"Troy?" he asked and she nodded her head softly.

"We…spent a lot of time on the back yard court, and in here over the last year and a half." She shared.

Jack removed his comforting grip from her shoulder and moved around to sit on the bottom bleacher in front of her. He kept a close eye on her face and smiled a familiar grin when Gabriella finally looked him in the eye.

The look was familiar because Jack's son owned the same feature. One of the many that Gabriella had come to love in just a few short months.

"I wondered why I was suddenly paired with Chad for one on one games." Jack commented. "Troy was playing you." He stopped quickly after the line and then stuttered. "Not…that's not…I mean…he better not have been playing you…" he finally clamped his mouth shut and felt the blood rushing through his cheeks.

Gabriella smiled. Jack's faux pas was a touch of the man that she knew as Troy's father. She didn't know him well. But in the depths of her mind she knew he was an excellent father, a loving one, and a dedicated coach for his son. She missed having that in her life. And somewhere along the way she had hoped that a bit of Troy's father could be her own. But she wouldn't admit that to either of the men, not yet.

With her smile Jack swallowed his pride and worked through his embarrassment. He patted the spot next to him on the bleacher and urged Gabriella to sit down. It wasn't until then that he noticed her slick-soled heels sitting a few feet away from them and her bare feet.

Gabriella nervously accepted his offer and sat down beside him wiping again at her eyes. She knew she was in for the inevitable question and she wasn't quite sure how to answer it. The reason for her tears wasn't cut and dry. It wasn't something that had happened as much as what she hoped could happen but feared at the same time.

"I'm not your usual sounding board." Jack started as she placed her hands on the bleachers on either side of her legs and just gripped the wood. "But do you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

He expected Gabriella to simply shake her head, shed a few more tears and then they would just sit quietly. Instead, she answered him with words that surprised both of them.

"I miss my Dad." She shared. Then she looked up, her eyes widened and rolled around in their sockets as she stared through the gym. Gabriella had no idea how or why that revelation had come out of her mouth, especially since she had just promised herself that she wouldn't discuss this yet with Troy, his father or anyone else. Yet now here she sat.

The answer startled Jack. He had had many dinners with this young lady and her mother over the past 18 months. They had spoken just a little about Manuel Montez. But there had never been an in-depth conversation. He suspected she hadn't discussed this with Troy either…or her own mother.

Jack thought for a moment. The answer was loaded. It was loaded with history, the present and the future. It was full of unanswered questions and full of responsibility. He wasn't sure he was ready to face such an important discussion in this young lady's life. Still, she had admitted this to him. And all Coach Bolton could really think was that he was in this spot for a reason.

"Is there something about him that you miss most?" he finally asked, earning a sigh from the dark haired girl.

"I'm sorry Coach Bolton. I don't even know why I told you that…" Gabriella began and Jack put his hand up, landing it softly again on her shoulder.

"Neither do I. But you did and there must be a reason. I'm here and there must be a reason for that. So go ahead. Miss Montez, tell me why you're in here shooting hoops after your graduation rehearsal, crying, and thinking about your dad."

Gabriella laughed softly under her breath. "Coach Bolton, that's a complicated combination of situations."

"Try me." Jack kept a straight face as he looked at her this time.

"Mr…Coach…um, Jack…" Gabriella tried to find a comfort zone in which to talk to this man. "My mom has spent her life making sure that I had her love and support. I know I have that. I know I would've had my father's full support and love as well if he could still be here. And I don't blame anyone for his death. I never have. It was an unfortunate accident. Mom and I know that she was meant to be back at work. Even though Dad provided for both of us…even in his death…but we know he supports Mom working. But I don't think that I've realized how much I missed him until the last few months. Maybe even the last year it's opened my heart."

Jack nodded his head as he let her words go through his mind. "Because of college coming up and the changes it means for your life? Moving, new school, new people?" he speculated out loud.

Gabriella shook her head and felt tears in her eyes again. "No." she whispered. "Because of Troy."

Jack looked at her curiously.

"We've moved around, Mom and I. I've been to plenty of new schools and met new people. But…" she hesitated again trying to find her comfort zone.

"But what?" Jack encouraged.

"But I've never been in love before. Not even close." She looked again out over the gym floor, eyeing the basketball hoop where she had been aiming minutes ago.

Jack followed her gaze letting his own eyes focus on the backboard. "And you're pretty sure you've found that with my son?"

Gabriella felt herself tense at the tone of his question. It was what she had expected, no matter who she discussed this with, other than Troy himself. "I…what I feel for Troy…what I believe we have…I don't know that my father would have supported it. Mom, Lucille, even you…seem to see something between us and are supporting us. You…are even accepting Troy's plans to switch his college choice. And we know he's doing that because of me." She stopped to think and wipe tears from her face.

Jack continued staring at the basketball goal. The symbol of his and Troy's strong relationship hung right there. The net strings woven together loosely suddenly held a new meaning to the coach. In those strings he could now see his connection with Troy. It was a connection that would stay tied in many different places, and those interwoven strings would be tied to others as well. Others, like Gabriella and her mother, who would be part of their lives.

He picked up the basketball and began twirling it in his hands. "You don't think your father would have approved of Troy?" Jack watched the ball spin and then stopped it purposefully.

"I think," Gabriella began, "that he would be very protective of me. I think he would have learned to like Troy. But I don't know how he would feel about Troy following me to California." She dared to lean her shoulder against the coach's and smiled when he looked back at her. "Troy's a charmer. His line about me 'inspiring his heart' was great, but I don't think Dad would've bought it. Do you?"

Jack looked at her and rolled his eyes just a bit as he thought. He sighed before he spoke. "Honestly? Yeah, I do think you inspire Troy's heart. But I think I know what you're saying. If I had a daughter those would be the kind of lines I'd be listening for with her dates…if I even let her date. I've heard Troy talk to Maria. He is a charmer. Red flags flying all the way around."

Gabriella watched him talk. She watched his eyes when he talked about Troy. He was accepting Troy's choice, for Troy's sake, and he was accepting it for her sake as well. "Coach?" she caught his attention and looked into his eyes as the tears began falling again from her own. "I'm scared of starting college. What kid isn't? But, I'm terrified for Troy." She dropped her head as the real reason for her tears finally came through her lips.

"What?" Jack's surprised face turned concerned very hastily. "Why?"

Gabriella chewed on her bottom lip as she attempted to pull back the tears. She cupped her hands over her face when her attempt failed. This was Troy's father she was talking to. This was the man whose dream was also changing because she 'inspired' Troy's heart. This was the man who was willing to let go of his only son…for her.

Jack waited just a few moments before wrapping a protective arm around the young lady and pulling her toward him. She was as surprised by his action as he was. But in that moment she turned her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. They both realized this was the fatherly conversation that she had been craving for sometime.

Jack's concern for his son lingered, but for just a few minutes he held Gabriella and let her cry. He shushed her tears and stroked her arm, leaning his chin over onto her head. And when her tears subsided Gabriella took a deep breath, released her hold around him and he allowed her to sit back up and watched as she wiped her eyes.

His thoughts turned back to Troy and her last statement. "Gabriella, talk to me. Please. If you're concerned about Troy's future I need to know. Do you think he's making the wrong choice? Has…has something changed between you two? Do you not want him closer to you?" The questions spilled from his mouth.

Gabriella shook her head strongly at each question. "I…just can't believe that he's choosing a school a thousand miles away from you and Lucille…because of me." She stopped to take a breath. "What if…what if he gets to Berkeley and hates it? What if I can't give him enough time and attention and then we're both out there alone? What if he gets to Berkeley…and just realizes he's made the wrong choice? It will all be my fault. And I don't know if I can handle that."

Jack let out a long breath. He had had these same thoughts. Troy had made commitments to the California school without consulting either of his parents. He had made the decision to attend that school completely on his own. None of them had had a clue that Berkeley was even in his sights. The decision had blindsided all of them. As beautiful as it had sounded coming from his mouth, on stage, during the senior musical, it had been a huge, stunning, decision.

"You know Troy." Jack said firmly. "When he makes a choice he's going to stick with it. He doesn't make choices like this lightly. He weighs his options. And, if he makes a mistake he figures out a way to make it right."

Jack thought back to the previous summer. The few short weeks when his son and this young lady had seemingly broken up. He had talked to Troy just a couple of times, as had Lucille, during those two weeks. All had realized that it was a situation Troy had to fix. And all had watched him take the steps needed to make things right again.

Gabriella's voice broke through Jack's thoughts. "Coach? Do you honestly think Troy is making a mistake? Is Berkeley a mistake?"

Jack looked at Gabriella and saw the fearful look in her eyes. "Right now?" he shook his head. "No. Right now I think he's made the right choice. I have talked to him. I know that he wants to be closer to you. And I think he needs that…I think he needs you."

Now Jack looked back at the basketball court where his son had grown so much over the past years. Troy had grown into a young man who was capable of making his own decisions. And his college choice was one that Jack would just have to live with. Jack hadn't been sure of Gabriella's commitment to Troy, until now.

This conversation was leading him to realize that perhaps the teens really were in love. It wasn't just infatuation that was leading Troy away from Albuquerque. He could hear the concern in Gabriella's voice. It was very similar to the concern he had heard in Troy's just two weeks ago when they discussed his choice to attend U.C. Berkeley. They were concerned about each other.

"But what if, with classes and basketball and theater and whatever else…what if we can't see each other and _things_ don't work out?" Gabriella swallowed hard at her last thought.

Jack turned to her and licked his lips as he thought. "Sweetheart, what you are worrying about are things that none of us can predict. You can't go into college playing the 'what-if' game. You are going to Stanford. Troy is going to Berkeley. If you love each other – and you are both telling me that now – then you will find a way to make your relationship work."

Gabriella tried to nod her head at him. She didn't like asking the 'what-if' questions. But without a clear-cut picture of her future she wasn't sure what else to do. Jack was providing her with a few thoughts.

"This last year and a half has been eye opening for a lot of us." Jack continued. "You, young lady, have come into our lives and introduced us to a lot of new ideas and shown us that some doors are open…doors that we didn't even know existed."

Gabriella ducked her head in embarrassment. "Troy has done the same for me, I could say." With her head still down she ventured to look around at her boyfriend's father. She let a soft laugh escape her lips. "Stanford's a dream come true. Troy wouldn't let me give up on that. Mom and Dad and I, we all talked about it, but it was originally my dream. Daddy told me when I was in first grade that I could go to Stanford if I wanted to. I think it was a school he picked out of the clear blue, but I got stuck on it. When he died I was even more determined to make it happen."

"And Troy won't let you give up that dream. He knows the connection your father has to this dream?" Jack considered.

"No." Gabriella answered. "I've never told him that part. I've never told anyone that part, except you."

Jack smiled at her. "Things happen for a reason Gabriella. I think we're both finding that out, aren't we?"

She nodded at him and ran her bare toes over the slick wooden floor. "But I'm still scared about him coming all the way to California because of me. I don't want to disappoint him. I don't want to lose him."

Jack looked at Gabriella with understanding eyes. "Are you talking about Troy, or your father?"

Gabriella's eyes looked up to meet Jack's. "I…I was talking about …" she stopped to think in mid-sentence.

"You love them both. But you've gotta do what's best for Gabriella. Stanford is best for you. That was determined long before you met Troy. So you have to take this opportunity and go to this school and _make the best of it._ You can't do it halfway Gabriella. If you want to be in their theater program, or you decide you want to go out for their basketball team…whatever opportunities arise for you during the next few years, you have to choose what's best for you. And I'll tell Troy the same thing."

"But…" Gabriella tried to interrupt only to be met with the coach's hand in her face.

"I'm not through yet." He informed her and then lowered his hand. "If you both choose to discuss these opportunities with one another and make the choices about them _together_, then I think you'll find yourselves growing closer to each other. You've each made these big decisions about college separately. But now that they are made, you've got to talk to each other."

They each sat, thinking about the words that had just been said before Jack added one more thought to his fatherly lecture. "You're never going to lose your father Gabriella. You've lost him physically, but you will never truly lose him. I'm going out on a limb here, but I don't think you'll ever lose Troy either. You may be separated by a short distance, but just like your dad, Troy's in your heart. The two of you care and worry about each other. You're not going to lose him."

Gabriella leaned her head back over onto Jack's shoulder and wrapped her arms around him again. It wasn't a foreign feeling to her to be leaning on him, hugging him. "Thank you." She spoke quietly.

"Can I tell you something?" Jack ventured and felt Gabriella nod.

"If Troy had told me he was going to Berkeley for any other reason, besides being closer to you, I would be fighting him. But you're becoming more like a daughter to me everyday Miss Montez. Even I can feel the bond that's between you two. Let him help you while you're in California. And you help him. And Lucille and I, and Maria will support you both. Deal?"

Gabriella squeezed her arms a bit tighter around him as she felt Jack place a light kiss on the top of her head. "It's a deal Coach. You've got yourself a deal." She smiled instinctively.

With that line they both knew that this 'coach' would play more of a fatherly role in Gabriella's life. She couldn't call him Dad. He wouldn't ask her to. But just as it often did for Troy, the word now held a much deeper meaning. And, she would add his love and concern into her heart along with the two other men that lived there.

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They sat for a few more minutes, just embracing on the bleachers. For a second time that afternoon a soft voice captured the attention from the doors across the room.

"Gabriella?" Troy's voice brought their eyes around to the boy standing nervously at the corner of the basketball court.

Jack nodded at his son and motioned for him to come toward them. Gabriella gingerly raised her head from Jack's shoulder and looked at her boyfriend with a couple of gentle swipes at the tearstains she knew were under her eyes.

The coach rubbed her back gently as Troy came and knelt down in front of them. "I thought you had a meeting with the counselor so I went to see Ms. Darbus. But it's been almost an hour and you didn't text or call or anything." He looked back and forth between his father and girlfriend. "I got worried. Especially when I went to the guidance office and you weren't there." He held out a hand to Gabriella and watched as she reached out to accept it. "Is…is everything ok?"

Gabriella nodded but Troy looked toward his father. Jack winked and nodded when Gabriella also looked toward him. "Everything's fine. Or at least it will be, right?" Jack commented and slid his hand from Gabriella's back to her shoulder. He stood up and urged Troy to sit down beside Gabriella in his place.

When Troy took the spot Jack noticed his son move immediately hip to hip with the young lady and place a protective arm around her. Gabriella, in turn, placed her head at the crook of Troy's neck, and smiled genuinely at the coach. Jack noted that they fit perfectly together and comfortably.

"Why don't you two get out of here." The father-figure reached for his wallet and pulled out twenty dollars. "Go get some lunch, take it back to the tree house and just relax this afternoon."

Troy took the money from his father with a questioning look. "It's all good Troy, really. Gabriella needed a…" Jack hesitated looking for a hint of confirmation from Gabriella before finishing his thought. When she nodded with understanding he continued. "…a fatherly shoulder. I'm the lucky one who hopefully provided it." He said with ease.

Troy's look was a little shocked as he leaned against Gabriella and bent his face toward hers. "Seriously?" he whispered and listened to her giggle.

"Seriously." Gabriella finally added to the conversation. "Thank you, again." She spoke to Jack and he simply smiled at her.

Jack started to turn and walk away but stopped and looked over his shoulder directly at his son. "Troy?" The sandy-haired boy looked at his father waiting to hear more. "I assume I'm leaving her in good hands?"

Troy heard a touch of seriousness in his father's voice that he wasn't quite familiar with when it came to Gabriella. "Yes Sir." He answered with confidence.

Jack smiled at both of them. "Take good care of my girl Son." He directed.

Troy swallowed an unfamiliar lump in his throat and nodded at his father. He felt Gabriella duck her head against his chest and wrap her arms around him. She quickly looked at Jack as he started walking away. "He will Coach." She hugged Troy firmly and kept her cheek against his chest hearing his heart beat. "I know he will."

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**_Scenarios: Hawaii_ by adcgordon now available in hardback, paperback and e-book at AuthorHouse dot com; Amazon dot com; or BarnesandNoble dot com.  
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	14. Together

**First off, thank you cnc for helping me with this one! A second set of eyes never hurts. :)**

**Last chapter, Coach Bolton shared a fatherly conversation with Gabriella and then left her in Troy's hands, telling Troy to "take care of my girl." As always, I own nothing of HSM except several well-worn cd's and dvd's and four tubs full of magazines and trinkets! I have an amazing amount of respect for the actors, actresses and the amazing production crew that brought this generation-changing phenomena into our lives.**

**KTZLF! -adc

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Troy watched his father walk out through the gym doors and turn down the school hallway before he bent his head down to try and look at Gabriella's face. Her head was tucked under his chin, obviously comfortable, yet he could still feel the tension in her muscles as they sat there on the bleachers. He knew her eyes were closed and heard her breath becoming steady.

"Do you want to tell me what just happened in here or am I allowed to know?" he finally asked when she loosened her grip around his waist and allowed her left arm to just fall limply into his lap.

"Can I let it soak in just a little more before I say anything? Talk about what Ms. Darbus is doing or where you ditched Chad and Jason…something I don't really need to listen to." Gabriella requested.

"Oh good. You want me to talk but you won't be listening? Are you adept at doing that already?" Troy asked with a slight smile on his face.

Gabriella rubbed his thigh, gently pressing on the khaki slacks that Troy had worn today for graduation rehearsal. Neither of them had brought other clothes. They had planned on leaving directly after rehearsal, going to lunch, and then back to Troy's empty house, or the one they had occupied a couple of weeks ago that was sitting empty over on Sycamore Drive.

Gabriella smiled at the thought causing her to squeeze gently on his thigh and nuzzle her nose into his neck. She had packed a couple of towels in her bag today…just in case they found themselves in a similar situation.

Instead - her mind came back to the moment at hand – she felt she had just become an unofficial member of the Bolton family. And, because of the conversation she had just shared with Troy's father she was feeling just a bit overwhelmed, and wanted a few minutes to get her thoughts together before discussing it with her boyfriend. She barely heard his reply to her request.

Troy could tell she was lost in her thoughts so instead of talking he just sat and held her. She had been crying, he could tell that. Jack had seemed genuinely concerned about her. And those two elements coupled together had caused Troy's stomach to churn when he saw them sitting together in the East High gym.

He was scared that maybe something had happened to Gabriella after the rehearsal. He had no clue what, but especially when he didn't find her in the guidance office he had gotten scared. Then seeing her in Jack's arms made him even more fearful.

Now, here they sat. _Everything's fine_. Jack had said. But Troy needed to hear that from Gabriella. Why was she suddenly needing a fatherly shoulder? Was something happening at Stanford that he needed to know about? Was there another boy there that she was interested in? Did she not want Troy coming to California anymore?

The pessimistic thoughts filled his mind. He was supposed to be talking to Gabriella about mindless stuff. Instead his mind was wandering toward the deep end and he was simply trying not to jump with it. He felt her hand caressing his thigh but it wasn't comforting him. Instead his own muscles began to tense and he found himself gripping onto his girlfriend as though she were going to disappear from his side.

When his foot began nervously tapping on the floor Gabriella opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What's wrong Wildcat?"

Troy swallowed through his dry throat and tried to ease his tension. He looked into her brown eyes with his worried blue ones. "That's what I need you to tell me. The longer we sit here the more worried I get. Gabriella, seriously, is everything ok? With us?" he added hesitantly.

Gabriella pulled back from Troy and looked closer at his eyes. She could see a fearful look in them and quickly worked to stop it.

"Troy, no. I mean, we're fine. It has nothing to do…well, it has to do with us, but it's nothing like that. We're fine Wildcat. I just…I just need you to hold me and let me get my thoughts together. Everything's really ok, I promise you." She tried to explain hurriedly and then placed her hands on his cheeks.

Troy closed his eyes as she pulled his face toward hers and kissed him soundly on the lips. "I just need you right now." Gabriella breathed as their kiss separated and their foreheads pressed against each other for support.

Troy licked his lips and opened his eyes to watch her breathe. "Then let's do what Dad said. Let's get out of here, go get some lunch and take it back to the tree house. I'll just turn some music on in the truck and you can keep thinking there."

Gabriella smiled softly at him and nodded her head. "That sounds good."

She watched as Troy stood up and held his hand out to her. She quickly grabbed it and he pulled her to her feet. Her skirt drifted just above her knees while the sleeveless summer sweater hugged her body. He began to pull her toward the door before Gabriella had one thought.

"Wait, wait." She stopped and he turned to look at her. "I…before we go. I need to…" the tears welled in her eyes again making Troy's concern return.

"What Baby?" Troy urged.

Gabriella dropped his hand and smiled. She grabbed her sandals and handed them to Troy watching as he slipped his fingers in the heel straps and draped her small shoes over his shoulder.

Then she took a few steps back onto the basketball court and grabbed the basketball that had rolled onto the floor. She dribbled a few times as she made her way back to the free throw line and moved left and right just a bit until she found her angle.

Troy watched her look at the basket, dribble the ball and then let the ball spin through the air. As it fell he saw the strings of the basket tingle and heard the swish.

Gabriella stared at the ball as it bounced loudly at first and then finally settled itself, rolling off toward the opposite side of the court. She turned back to Troy with a few tears rolling down her face. Then she slowly padded back toward him, gripped his bicep with her hands and leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek with her tear-dampened lips. "Nothin' but net." She choked out. "Just like you taught me."

Troy placed a kiss in her hair, still not understanding the solemness. He allowed her to lean her temple against his shoulder and then offered her shoes to her. Gabriella simply shook her head. She pulled on his arm and clung to him as they walked out of the gym together.

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The beat-up white pickup truck wasn't alone in the parking lot. A lot of students were still on the campus, in the school and wandering around. But to Gabriella and Troy they were the only ones there. They walked quietly to the truck, Troy letting her have time to think, as he had promised.

He opened the passenger door and let Gabriella scoot to the middle portion of the bench seat pulling the seatbelt loosely around her. When the two had followed the same routine that morning at the Bolton house, three parents had watched them intently from just inside the front doors.

For this graduation weekend Maria and Gabriella were staying with the Boltons, at Lucille's insistence. Friday was graduation rehearsal. Saturday was high school graduation for the teens. Saturday night Troy and Gabriella planned to attend the graduation party at Chad's house. Then on Sunday would be brunch at the Boltons' home where several of the Wildcats planned to gather to send off Gabriella for a final time.

Maria knew it would be a weekend of breakdowns for her daughter. She knew Troy would be by her side. But she knew that when they headed to the airport Sunday afternoon he couldn't be with them. Gabriella had to be back at Stanford Monday morning. Troy couldn't join them in California for two more weeks. Two weeks after that, Maria would leave the teens alone…completely alone… in California. And, two weeks later Troy would head to Berkeley for his own college orientation.

This weekend was the beginning of a six-week whirlwind that Maria dreaded more than anything in her life. It was the beginning of a new chapter in her baby girl's life. She was glad that she could share at least a portion of this with Jack and Lucille. But in her heart she wished her husband could be there to share it with them. Manuel was there in spirit, but for one of the few times since his death she truly wanted him there, physically beside her.

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Troy ran into the sub shop as quickly as he could, leaving Gabriella in the truck with her head leaned back on the seat listening to some classical music that she had found on the U of A radio station. He smiled and placed a kiss on her cheek before sliding out of the truck. "Stanford kind of music." He mumbled, earning him a slap to the arm and a pout from his girlfriend before she closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

He rubbed his arm as he slammed the truck door and noted that she still had some of her sense of humor. But he was still anxious to hear the story behind her and Jack in the gym.

When he returned to the truck Gabriella sat up straighter and held her hands out to take the bag of food. "What'd you get?" she asked peeking into the white paper sack.

"There's turkey, or veggie, no hot peppers or banana peppers…plain chips or pretzels and diet Cokes for both of us." He explained as he slid the key back into the ignition.

"Ok." Gabriella said and then stuck her bottom lip out just a bit, raising it over her top lip as she glanced in Troy's direction. It took him just a minute before he looked at her childish face.

After a moment he rolled his eyes and leaned his head back as he began to pull out of the parking lot. "And there are six cookies at the bottom of the bag. Two chocolate chip, two macadamia nut, and two peanut butter." He stated with a huff.

With that Gabriella smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Can I have one cookie before I eat my sandwich?" she looked up at him and batted her eyelashes while his eyes were intently watching the road.

"One." Troy answered, never taking his eyes off the road.

Her smile grew a little bigger and she leaned up farther to place a kiss on his jawbone, just under his ear. "I love you." She said softly.

Troy finally took a second to look back down at her. "You'd better." He grinned when he saw her sheepish smile.

----------

Gabriella grabbed the bag of food and slid out the driver's side door after Troy when they parked the truck in the driveway of Troy's home. He looked back in the cab as she continued past him toward the back yard gate.

"Are you just gonna leave your bag and shoes in the truck?" he asked curiously.

"I'll go back and get them later, before we go in the house. We don't have to go in now do we?"

"Well no." Troy started. "Although I do need to use the bathroom. The tree house doesn't have _all_ the comforts of home." He headed toward the back door of the house.

Gabriella nodded at him. "Are the pillows and blanket still up there though?" she thought back to the last time, two weeks prior when they had chatted in Troy's childhood playhouse. Neither of them was feeling quite as adventurous this afternoon, but she still didn't mind being prepared…just in case.

Troy smiled at her. "Yessssss." He drawled out with a questioning tone. He stepped back toward her and wiped the smile off his face for a moment. "Is any of this related to…" he grabbed her hands and waited to make sure Gabriella was looking into his eyes. "…the, um, birth control stuff?" he nearly whispered.

Gabriella's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about that. She shook her head. "It might. Maybe. I've only been on it about three weeks now. But I'm pretty sure that's not all of it." She put her hand on Troy's chest. "Even if that is part of it, this is just…a real emotional time for me Troy. I hope…"

Troy stopped her with a kiss to her cheek and then placed his palm over top of the spot he just kissed, reaching his fingers into her dark wavy hair. "I'm right here Gabriella. I'm not going anywhere."

He took his other hand and put it over top of her hand on his chest, pulling it up to feel his heartbeat. "And even when you leave on Sunday, you're gonna be right here in my heart and I'm gonna be in yours. I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled again and ran her fingers over his shirt as he pulled his hand away from hers. "I know." She answered him with surety. "Now go…do your thing. I'm gonna go try to climb the ladder with our lunch." She grinned.

"Leave it." Troy instructed her. "I have lots of experience climbing that ladder while holding something in one hand. You just get yourself up the ladder I'll get the food."

Gabriella rolled her eyes but gave in to him. "Fine." She huffed jokingly and then walked toward the tree with the bag of food. Troy watched as she stopped at the base of the tree and opened the bag. She looked back at him with a wide girlish grin as she pulled one of the cookies out of the bottom of the bag, held it between her teeth and began to climb the ladder.

"I saw that." Troy yelled at her teasingly when she reached the wooden deck of the tree house. "No more until you eat your sandwich!" he pointed a finger in her direction. She puckered her lips and blew a kiss full of cookie crumbs in his direction.

"Then you'd better hurry up!" she warned with a mouth full of chocolate chips and cookie dough.

----------

By the time Troy grabbed their lunch and climbed up the ladder Gabriella had spread the blanket over the floor and put the pillows up against the wall. She smiled and took the bag from Troy's hand and sat it down on the blanket. Then she reached back and took Troy's hand and pulled him toward the pillows.

Troy sat down and leaned his back up against the pillows and Gabriella situated herself between his legs, sitting with her back against his chest, her head leaning against his collar bone. She took each of his hands in hers and pulled his arms around her shoulders letting his wrists rest between her breasts. This way she was able to hold his hands and play with his fingers.

"I miss my Dad, Troy." She finally said.

Troy hugged her shoulders. "What?"

Gabriella continued. "That's what I told Coach." She linked her fingers with Troy's and leaned her head to his opposite shoulder. "I was in the gym shooting free throws, like you told me you do when something's bothering you. Apparently Coach heard the ball bouncing and looked in. When I missed a shot, I kinda lost it. He came up behind me and surprised me a little. I was crying and he sat down and asked me what was wrong."

"And you talked to him?" Troy asked, less than amused at the situation she was describing to him.

Gabriella nodded. "When we finished rehearsal…" she back-tracked in the conversation, "…and I told you I had a meeting with the counselor…" Troy interrupted her.

"You lied to me." Troy didn't like the thought of that either, but her fib was the least of his worries.

"I…I…yes, I lied to you. But I just needed to get away from everybody for a little while. I knew I was gonna break down and I didn't want anyone to have to deal with it." She spoke strongly even with her quiet voice.

"Even me?" Troy wanted her honest answer.

Gabriella didn't nod or shake her head. She just ran her fingers over his trying to think of something to say. She knew she had to tell him the same thing she had told Jack. Troy deserved to know that she was afraid of the future that lay ahead of them. And she needed his reassurance, as she had received from the coach, that they would somehow make it work.

"Gabriella…if you won't let me see you break down…if you won't talk to me, how can I help you?" Troy leaned down and softly placed a kiss on her neck just behind her ear just to emphasize his question.

"I'm trying to figure out how to explain this, if I can." Gabriella began. Troy felt her take a deep breath.

"It's been hitting me, all week, that this is it for me at East High Troy. Graduation, this is it. I've spent more time at this school…I've got friends at this school. And the last year and a half Troy…" she had to stop to try and catch her emotional thought in her throat. "I can't even describe to you how amazing this has been. I've finally felt at home. I finally know what a home feels like again. It's the school, it's my friends, but most of all it's you and Lucille and Coach."

Gabriella stopped and ducked her head down so that Troy could just barely hear her. "Troy? I wish my Dad could be here to get to know you like I've come to know your parents. Mom loves you Troy. And I know that my Dad would have given you a hard time, but he would like you too, and he would trust you."

She turned her waist to the side so that Troy could embrace her. He pulled her legs over his right one so that she was sitting in his lap, wrapped his arms around her waist and then coaxed her to put her head down on his chest.

"I have a hard time believing he would trust me. Mr. Montez has a beautiful, brilliant daughter. And the minute he caught us kissing the first time he would've kicked me out of the house and probably buried me alive somewhere for even touching you." Troy tried to joke to lift her spirits.

Gabriella immediately shook her head. "No. I think he would've lectured you. But he was a fair man Troy. He would've asked you why you wanted to date me and as soon as you complimented me and told him how much you cared about me he would've given you a chance."

"What about the whole mess that we went through when you first got to East High? Your mom didn't even trust me when I screwed up before the callbacks." Troy recalled.

"But she kept a calm head through the whole thing Troy. Daddy was like that too. Until he knew the whole story he didn't judge people. I have a feeling, if Dad were here, that you wouldn't have climbed up to the balcony that night you came to apologize." Gabriella imagined.

"Why's that?" Troy asked as he placed a kiss in her hair.

"Because I imagine he would've made you come in, he would've made me come downstairs and made us sit down and talk with him listening." Gabriella raised her face and kissed Troy on the chin.

"And what about the idea of us going to college near each other? Do you think he would've liked that?" Troy wondered aloud.

Gabriella thought about the chat that she and Jack had had earlier. She smiled to herself as she thought about the word she had used to describe Troy to his own father. Jack had agreed when she called Troy a 'charmer'. And then, he had put himself in her father's shoes to imagine how Manuel might feel about their college choices.

"I asked Coach about that." Gabriella stated.

"Is that what you're calling my dad now?" Troy smiled into her hair.

"Troy…" she picked at him for getting off the subject.

"Sorry, so what'd _Coach_ say?" he pushed her term of endearment from his lips without joking.

"He said if he had a daughter there would be red flags up in this situation." Gabriella snuggled herself tighter against Troy's chest.

"Would he be trying to stop me from following you?" Troy asked hesitantly.

"No." Gabriella answered.

"But?" Troy asked.

"But Troy are you sure you're ready to be that far away from your parents?"

"Huh?" now he was completely confused.

Gabriella sat up and again put her face in her hands as she had been when Jack came to her in the gym.

"I'm so confused Troy. Yes, I'm missing my Dad. And everytime I think of him I wonder how he would've like you. And then I think about you going to Berkeley, and I think about how far _we_ are going to be from your parents. And I worry that just being near me won't be enough for you." Gabriella finally let her real fear come from her lips.

"Here you have Chad. He's your brother Troy. Here you have Coach and Lucille. You have a life here in Albuquerque Troy, you grew up here. This is your home. I'm really scared that you'll get to California and want to come home. I can handle myself being unhappy and away from the people I love. I've done it a lot. But I can't handle knowing that you are unhappy…that I'm the one who caused it. I don't think I can take that Troy, and then the thought of losing you because of it terrifies me."

Gabriella pushed herself out of his arms and away from his lap. She wrapped her arms around herself as she scooted away from Troy, even though all she wanted, was to be in his arms.

Troy let her words sink into his heart for just a moment before moving towards her. "Don't." he raised his voice and scolded her.

The word worked, making her at least look up at him with tears again smudging her face.

"What?" Gabriella responded. She wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"You are trying to push me away again. So just don't, ok? It didn't work before you went to Stanford and it's not going to work now." He sat directly behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He felt the tension again that had built in her muscles.

"Gabriella, I love you. Do you love me?" Troy watched the back of her head as she nodded.

"Really?" he watched her again as she turned her face to look at him.

"How can you ask me that? You know I love you." She mumbled through her tears.

"Then why are you trying to push me away?" Troy felt his stomach begin to turn again. "If you love me then why are you bringing up all of these reasons why I should stay here?"

Gabriella hesitated. Was that what she was doing? Was she trying to talk Troy into staying here? That's not what she wanted. But maybe that's what her heart was doing…without discussing it with her brain first.

She looked at him and let him place his hands on her face. "I just want to make sure you've thought this through. I don't want to disappoint you. I don't want to be the cause of you moving a thousand miles away and then being completely miserable. College is gonna be a big change Troy. We won't see each other as much as we do now. Our friends are not gonna be there waiting for us to get off the bus every day. We'll have to make new friends and have new teammates and life is just gonna change. We have to face that."

Troy pushed on her shoulders until she turned around to face him again. "Do you want to know how long I've been thinking this through? Gabriella you've seen me make a few wrong decisions in the past year and half and you've seen me turn those around haven't you?" he waited for her to nod in response.

He shook his head as he continued. "This isn't one of those wrong decisions. When did we first talk about college?" he asked and waited for her answer.

"When I got my acceptance letter to Stanford, around Thanksgiving, last year." She said with a bit of confidence as she watched Troy shake his head.

"Uh-uh. I can tell you exactly when we talked about it. It was two days before our summer break started last year. We were at your house talking about jobs again. And you weren't sure about getting a job because you were still debating going to Stanford for a two week summer program they were offering. That's the day you told me that you were going to Stanford. And I started wondering what the hell I was gonna do at the University of Albuquerque with you all the way in another state." Troy stopped.

His eyes met Gabriella's disbelieving ones. She sat there simply staring at him without a word to say. Troy took a breath and continued.

"That's the day I went home and looked up Stanford. And I looked up UCLA and the University of Southern California and I _found_ Berkeley. That's the day I downloaded an application to Berkeley, filled it out and mailed it in with my transcript and a request to talk to someone about their basketball program."

Troy's eyes held the truth that he was speaking. This wasn't a decision he had made lightly. This was something he had considered for nearly a year now, without sharing it with anyone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gabriella asked as Troy worked to put his continued explanation together.

"Because I thought, as the summer went on, that you were re-thinking Stanford. You talked about this being home for you. You talked about how happy you and Maria are here. I started thinking you might look at a college closer…to home."

"The U of A scholarship stuff with Sharpay? That's why you were pushing for it so hard." Gabriella's brain was beginning to see a clearer picture of the relationship that she and Troy had built. And she was beginning to see that he was more in tune with her than she had imagined.

"I didn't have an offer from Berkeley at that point. They hadn't seen me play. And I needed something sure. I knew a scholarship would help Mom and Dad. And if you were going to be anywhere close to Albuquerque then I wanted to make sure that things were wrapped up for me here."

"But you never even visited Berkeley. When did they see you play?" Now Gabriella was more than interested in how this choice, this decision had come about.

"They sent scouts to our first game against West last season. Dad knew they were scouts but he kinda laughed them off when the left their business cards and he saw they were from Berkeley." He stopped again, gathering his thoughts.

"Do you remember the weekend I went to Phoenix?" Troy asked and then relaxed as he scooted back against the pillows again. He tugged on Gabriella's arm to make her follow him back to the comfortable spot they had abandoned minutes before.

She nodded as they settled in again.

"I took a direct flight to Phoenix…and then caught another plane to California."

"Troy!" Gabriella looked at him with something almost like anger in her eyes. "What if something had happened? Coach and your mom…we all thought you were in Phoenix." Her jaw clenched realizing that he had lied to them about that trip.

"Don't get angry with me. It had to be done and everything was fine. I was taking care of what had to be done." He told her pointedly.

Troy watched her jaw relax, her eyes glaze with tears and felt her hand cup his cheek. "So ask me again if I've put enough thought into this. I know I'm a thousand miles away from home. I know that you will be a half hour up the road from me instead of five minutes around the corner. I know that basketball and theater are going to take up a chunk of my time. And I know that you are going to be carrying a full load of classes and don't need me distracting you every minute of our freshman year. Am I right?"

Gabriella grazed her thumb over his cheekbone as he spoke and nodded her head. She bit her lip as a thought crossed her mind. "When did you know for sure that I was going to Stanford?"

"I saw it in your eyes when Maria showed Mom and Dad the acceptance letter after Thanksgiving last year. She said it had been a dream of yours, and hers, and your dad's since you were a little girl. Your eyes were beaming Gabriella. I knew that's what you wanted. I even remember Dad commenting that you were going to be going a long way away from home."

"I told him I was used to leaving home, as long as I knew I could come back to my mom. And Lucille said that as long as they were here I'd have another home I could come back to." Gabriella remembered out loud.

This time Troy nodded. "And she meant that. You know that now after talking to Dad today, don't you?"

Gabriella smiled at Troy. "You'd better take care of me you know."

Troy chuckled. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I'm Coach's girl now. Didn't you hear him?" Gabriella raised her chin with some confidence. "You can't run home to get away from my dad because my new one lives at your house." She smiled at Troy's confusion.

"That sounds like some sick, twisted kind of family if we're dating." Troy commented with a disgusted look on his face.

Gabriella laughed at him. "Only till we get married, then it'll be fine."

Troy's face changed to a look of surprise at Gabriella's words. Her eyes matched his as they grew in size and stared at each other. After a moment Gabriella whispered, "If…we get…married…I meant. That…that's a long ways away to think about now." She finally blinked and looked away from Troy.

"Remember a couple of weeks ago, in your old bedroom, what we shared?" Troy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his lap.

"Yeah." Gabriella answered a bit uncertainly.

"If we can share that Gabriella, we should be able to tell each other anything, shouldn't we?" Troy suggested.

"Yeah." She answered again with a little more strength in her voice.

"When I started looking at Berkeley it was because I didn't want to be far away from you. When we…experimented…it was because _we_ wanted to be as close as we possibly could. That leads me to believe that we both want the same thing. And when the time is right," Troy raised his eyebrows and looked into Gabriella's eyes once more, "then my dad _will_ be your dad too. And," he grinned at his next thought. "Any little future Boltons can call him whatever name they choose."

Gabriella laughed at his words and leaned in to share a kiss with her boyfriend. The simple act didn't go any farther than gently dueling tongues but conveyed to each other that 'yes' they did share some of the same dreams.

"So," Gabriella picked up their lunch sack after allowing Troy to choose the veggie sandwich from the bag.

"So?" Troy edged on as he watched her pull another cookie from the bottom of the bag. "Ah-ah-ah. Sandwich first, then you might get another one of those." He gently smacked her hand.

Gabriella pouted. "Is this the way it's gonna be every couple of weeks when we meet halfway between Berkeley and Stanford?"

Troy looked at her, glanced at his sandwich, the cookie in her hand and their surroundings. "If you can find a tree house between the two schools where we can have a little time alone together…you can have all six cookies and I won't even make you touch the sandwich!" he declared.

"That sounds like a challenge Berkeley Boy. We'll just see what your Stanford girlfriend can come up with."

Troy smiled but shook his head. "Don't change my nickname please. If Dad's gonna be your Coach…" he leaned in and stole another kiss from her cookie-filled mouth.

"You'll always be my Wildcat." Gabriella leaned back, swallowed her mouthful of food and smiled as she licked her lips. "No matter what state _we're_ in, no matter which schools _we're_ attending…and whether my last name is Montez or Bolton… you'll always be _my_ Wildcat."

**__________**

**_Scenarios: Hawaii__ by adcgordon_ now available in hardback, paperback and e-book at AuthorHouse dot com; Amazon dot com; and BarnesandNoble dot com.  
**


	15. Mother Knows Best

**Graduation weekend is done and it's time for Gabriella to head back to Stanford. Has Troy made the correct decision to follow her? That's where we pick up now.  
Thanks to all for your comments & PM's, I appreciate them and you continue to feed my addiction! Please keep 'em coming!**

**And thank you cncgrad for input on this chapter! I appreciate your hiliter and your thoughts! :)  
**

**KTZLF! -adc

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**

Troy watched the rental car pull out of the driveway and blew kisses once more as Maria and Gabriella headed toward the airport. He waited until the car was completely out of sight before turning around to find both his parents standing and waiting for him.

This time she wasn't coming back. This time she was staying in California. This time, life for Troy and Gabriella really was going to change. The past two times she had set out in a moving van, or caught a flight Troy was there to see her off knowing that she would return two weeks later. This time it would be Troy who had to make the move.

She would come back to Albuquerque eventually…with Troy…at least she'd better. But it wouldn't just be two weeks later. Neither of them really knew how long it would be before she would get to come…home…again.

Troy looked first at his father who stood with understanding eyes. Then he walked to his mother who opened her arms to her son knowing he didn't want to allow them to see his tears.

He wrapped his arms around his mother's waist and let her just hug him tightly for a long moment. In just a few weeks they would be letting him go, saying the goodbyes and driving off to leave Troy behind. Lucille didn't want to think about that right now. Instead she wanted to console her baby boy who had just watched his girlfriend head out to prepare for the next chapter in their lives.

"Are you okay Sweetheart?" Lucille finally pulled back to look up into Troy's eyes.

"Mama," he cocked his head to the side and smiled gently at her. "Of course I'm fine. I'll see her again in a couple of weeks." He blinked a few times as Lucille moved her thumb over his cheek and looked at him closely. "And," he added, "so will you. I'm more worried about you than I am about me at this point."

He looked at Jack as his father came and wrapped an arm around Lucille's shoulders. "You know, he has a point there. You've been thriving off of watching him _and_ Gabriella over the past year or so. Are you going to be ok without either of them here?" he asked somewhat jokingly.

Lucille tried to pull her shoulders back and stand straighter in a show of strength and then sighed heavily, defeated. She let her shoulders slump and looked up at Troy and then over to Jack. "I don't know." She admitted.

"Mama." Troy reached a hand out and took one of hers that was stationed stiffly on her stomach. "We are both just a phone call away. You know that."

"But you'll both be so busy with classes and study groups and practices…" Lucille's bottom lip began to quiver as her son and husband watched her.

Troy wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze, then held onto her for another minute before pulling back. His own voice broke just a bit. "I'll always have time for my mom…and so will Gabriella." He nodded at Lucille and watched her nod back at him. Then he released his mother into his father's arms and looked at Jack.

"You…" he directed at Jack pointedly. "I assume I'm leaving her in good hands?"

Jack smirked at his son's attempt to play a role-reversal of the conversation they had shared on Friday, concerning Gabriella. Jack nodded at Troy.

"Take care of my mom." Troy stated and then turned and walked back toward the house hiding the lump in his throat.

Jack smiled as he watched his son walk away and then turned to Lucille. "Luce, Honey, he'll be fine. They'll be fine, and we'll be fine. We have to trust them to make their own decisions now. And mark my words right now, someday, they'll come back to Albuquerque together and make this their home."

Lucille leaned her head back to look at her husband and shook her head. "You, Jack Bolton, are as much of a romantic as I am. You just won't admit it."

Jack smiled and kissed her on the lips as they turned to head back in the house. "I'll admit it to you. Nobody else needs to know."

Just before they stepped back inside the house Lucille leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Your son takes after you in the romance department, you know?"

Jack smiled at her and kissed her again. "I know. And _that_ worries me."

The two shared a laugh as they wandered in toward the kitchen.

----------

As Maria pulled the car into a parking spot at the airport she watched her daughter pull her cell phone from her pocket. Gabriella pressed a single button and smiled as she read the text message.

"_I miss you already Gorgeous. ;)"_

"That boy." Maria said and shook her head.

"That boy," Gabriella returned as she looked at her mom, "is in love with me." She had to smile again as Maria tried to roll her eyes and look frustrated.

"And?" Maria continued the thought.

"And I can't wait for him to be in California with me because I love him too." Gabriella answered somewhat softly but with confidence.

She stopped and sat for a minute while Maria stepped out of the car and went to the trunk to get Gabriella's bag. When Maria came to the passenger door and opened it for Gabriella to get out she found her daughter lost in thought.

"Briella?" Maria tried to get her attention.

"Do you think Daddy would like Troy?" Gabriella looked at her mom at last but still didn't leave the car.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked her with just a little concern.

"Things have kinda happened fast for me and Troy. Do you think Daddy would approve of him?" she restated her question.

Now Maria looked at her daughter a little more seriously. "Are we talking marriage here?" her eyes widened just a bit and her eyebrows raised without a smile on her lips.

"Wha…What?" Gabriella watched her mom closely. "Well…we…not…not right now." She finally stumbled. "I'm just talking about me having a serious boyfriend." She felt her face flush with even just the words coming from her mouth.

Maria put her hand to her chin and let her index finger cover her lips as she thought about what Gabriella was saying. "Can we plan on talking more about this when I get to California on Wednesday?" Maria was staying behind to sign paperwork on the house and tie up some loose ends with her company before transferring completely to the West Coast.

Gabriella nodded her head and stood from the passenger seat offering to take her bag from Maria.

"Your father," Maria wanted to at least give her daughter a few clues to her thoughts, "would have questioned Troy up and down the moment he dared to come to our house. And," she thought back to her first meeting with Troy, when he came to apologize to Gabriella for his pre-callback mistakes, "when Troy admitted that he had made a mistake and wanted to apologize…your father would have made you come downstairs and he would have listened in as the apology happened."

Gabriella swallowed hard thinking about her first few weeks at East High and how things had changed when a determined Troy had climbed her balcony and apologized to her face to face.

"And then he would have sent the two of you out for ice cream while we sat on the couch. And he would have told me over and over again how much you've grown up, and how this young man better take care of you."

Gabriella ducked her head as she listened to Maria and they began the walk to the airport terminal. "Would he have approved?" she asked again.

Maria caught her daughter's eye and smiled. "Yes. Because he would've seen Troy's love for you in his eyes. Just like I have."

Both women held hands as they entered the airport and let out short sighs. They hugged as Maria let her daughter head off toward the airplane to take her back to Stanford. And the older Montez turned to head back to the car in the parking lot. Before she reached the vehicle her own phone buzzed in her purse.

"_Meet me for dinner tonight? Please? My treat."_

She read the text twice before replying. "Where and what time?"

_"7 at Simon's. I've got a table reserved so we can talk. I miss your daughter already. ;)"_

Maria shook her head as she typed her reply message. "I'll meet you there, Troy. Hang in there."

----------

"So Troy, what are you doing tonight?" Jack watched his son smile somewhat nervously as he read a message on his phone.

Troy had barely even acknowledged his parents when they came back in the house. The teen had gone to his room for about twenty minutes and then wandered back out to the living room and sprawled himself across the couch. He continued fumbling with his phone, running his fingers over the keys.

"Troy?" Jack asked again still getting no response from his son. "Troy Alexander. Can you get your mind away from Stanford long enough to answer a simple question?" Jack raised his voice becoming a little more irked at Troy's ability to ignore him.

Troy looked at his dad. "Huh? Oh, sorry Coach, what?"

Jack shook his head at his son. "What are you doing tonight? Getting together with Chad and the guys?" Lucille wandered back in the living room and placed a hand on Troy's shoulder attempting to look at the message on his phone.

Troy looked up and quickly flipped his phone closed and smiled at his mom. "I, um…I kinda have a date." He watched his mom first shoot him an evil glare and then looked up at Jack.

"Excuse me, you have what?" she finally spoke.

"I promise you'll hear about it later and I'll be home long before midnight. Matter of fact, I'll probably be home before ten." He smiled a bit nervously.

"Do I need to call Gabriella?" Jack pulled his own cell phone from his pocket.

Troy looked at Jack and pointed at him. "There's nothing in the rule book that says I can't take her mom out to dinner, is there?"

Jack and Lucille looked at their son. "You're taking Maria on a date?" Lucille smiled with furrowed eyebrows.

"Kinda." Troy shrugged his shoulders and sat up on the couch. He slid his phone back in his pocket and leaned forward putting his hands together on his knees. He took a deep breath and looked up at his parents.

"Mom, you and Gabriella have been out shopping and she's been over here plenty of times while Maria was out of town. You've had lots of chances to talk to her. And Dad, you guys apparently had a long talk in the gym on Friday. I need that chance with Maria." Troy sighed again.

"Why Sweetheart?" Lucille sat down on the arm of the couch and put her hand on the back of Troy's neck massaging his muscles.

Troy looked toward his mom and scooted closer to her. "I can talk to Maria. We've had lots of nice little chats while Gabriella's getting ready and stuff. But I need to know that I can sit down and have a real conversation with her without Gabriella there. I care about Maria too. She's a huge part of Gabriella's life and is gonna be a bigger part of mine when I'm in California. I need her to know that I care about her too."

Lucille pulled Troy's head toward her and gave him a tight squeeze, bending down to place a kiss in his hair. There was no response she could give to tell him how proud she was of him. Instead she just let go of him and went back into the kitchen to put dishes away.

Jack looked at Troy and shook his head.

"What?" Troy asked quietly.

"You really are in love with Gabriella aren't you?" Jack stared at his son.

"Yeah." Troy looked at his dad. "I want to take care of her Dad. And I want to make sure Maria knows that. I'm not just following Gabriella to California because…it's not on a whim. It's not because I'm jealous or because I think she's gonna find another guy. It's because I want to be close enough to take care of her when she needs me to. And because I love her."

The two sat quietly for a few more minutes, Jack gathering his thoughts and Troy watching him.

"Come on, there's something in your head that you want to say. Just say it." Troy picked at his father.

"Just remember you asked for it." Jack started and Troy rolled his eyes. "There are at least four years of college in front of both of you. For Gabriella I'm guessing there will be more than that. And if you want grad school…"

Troy interrupted his father. "Didn't we kind of have this discussion a couple of weeks ago. Babies and birth control…do we have to go through that again?" and again he ribbed his dad.

But Jack shook his head. "No, listen Troy. If you really care about Gabriella as much as you say you do then you've already thought about marriage haven't you." He stated more than he asked.

Troy sat still on the couch simply moving his eyes around to stare at the coffee table as he thought about an answer. After a couple of minutes he took a deep breath and looked at Jack. "I have. And you're going to tell me that we're too young for that." He kept talking when Jack attempted to put a word in between. "And I'm going to tell you that I know that. We both know that." Troy finally stopped.

Jack looked at him. "So four years of college first?"

Troy nodded slowly. "I…we will try. If things continue between us though, an engagement could happen before graduation."

"If…?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"I've listened Dad. I've listened to you and Gabriella and Mom and Chad and God knows who else. College is a whole new ball game. I'm not going to college looking for a new relationship, and neither is Gabriella. But we aren't stupid. We'll try to make it work, and it will be hard. But we both know nothing is set in stone right now." Troy breathed out and again nervously looked around the room.

"Okay." Jack watched him. "Will you just let me add one other point into this?"

Troy looked back at him and nodded.

"If the two of you get…_involved_…" Jack put the emphasized words in quotation marks with his fingers, "if you haven't already…" he added and noted that Troy wasn't squirming at the sexual thoughts that had entered both of their minds. "If you go that far, you don't cheat on her. You don't sleep around. You don't mess around with those situations Troy. Do you hear me?" Jack's eyes were ablaze.

Troy saw the fire in his father's eyes. He wasn't sure if it was concern for him, for Gabriella or anger at the thought. Whatever it was Troy took it very seriously. "Yes sir." He answered simply.

"She trusts you Troy. You are the one who has pulled her out of her shell and helped her step out in faith on a lot of different levels. You know she's scared about you coming to California, right?" Jack continued his lecture.

Troy nodded as he soaked in his father's words and understanding.

Jack breathed out through his nose. He didn't set out to lecture Troy about this. But he didn't want either of his kids to be hurt. And yes, Gabriella was now one of his kids. She would continue to be one as long as Jack could imagine.

"I just…I don't want to see either of you hurt Troy. And I have a feeling that if you hurt Gabriella she would have a harder time recuperating from it than if it happened to you. Does that make sense?"

Again Troy nodded. A slight smile appeared on his face as he and Jack continued to look at each other. "See," Troy worked to keep his smile from growing, "she's not just '_some girl_' anymore, is she?"

Jack remembered back to a time when he and Troy had argued about Gabriella and he had referred to her using those two words. Now he shook his head.

"Just give her the best you can Son. She deserves that. Be honest with her. And remember she loves you and trusts you." With that Jack stood up and walked behind the couch. He patted Troy on the shoulder with a strong hand and then headed into the kitchen.

Troy sat on the couch a few minutes longer. He suddenly felt like an adult. His father had just put more responsibility on his shoulders. It was responsibility that he welcomed and planned to face with his head held high.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and typed another message to Gabriella knowing she was on the plane with her phone turned off. _"Be sure to call me when you get back to the dorm. I love you and I miss you. __"_

He changed his thoughts to the evening in front of him. Dinner with Gabriella's mother. He smiled as he thought about the one question she was sure to ask him. Troy wandered out of the living room, through the kitchen and into his bedroom without a word to his parents who were still cleaning up from the brunch. What exactly would he answer Maria when she asked _"What are your intentions with my daughter?"_

----------

Simon's diner wasn't a hole in the wall, nor was it Albuquerque's finest restaurant. One of Jack's golf buddies had a friend who owned the cozy little restaurant. The food was good and not overpriced. And, the management usually would cut Troy a break, especially when he and Gabriella had dined there together.

The Boltons and Montez families had enjoyed a lunch or dinner there together a few times but Troy never thought he would be sitting in the back corner of the dining area waiting for Gabriella's mother.

He fidgeted with the rolled up sleeves of his button-down shirt. More than once he tugged at the waistband of his khaki pants. He wasn't dressed up, but it wasn't his usual polo and jeans either. He relaxed just a little when a familiar ring-tone sounded from his pocket indicating that Gabriella must be back at her dorm.

"Hey Beautiful." Troy offered as he answered her call.

"Hey Wildcat." Gabriella sighed from the other end of the line.

"Did your flight go ok?" He asked wondering about her mood.

"Yeah. It was fine. I think the whole weekend is just sinking in for me and I'm pooped. And even though we were staying at the same house we only had about three hours alone together the whole weekend." She pouted.

Troy smiled as he imagined her bottom lip protruding above her round chin with one arm crossed over her chest trying to be angry about their graduation weekend.

"I didn't even get to give you your graduation present." She squeaked a bit as the words came from her mouth.

Troy looked around the restaurant as he thought about the present he wanted to give her. After their experimentation a few weeks ago he imagined that her present to him was the very similar to what he had in mind. He felt his face flush and cleared his throat as he watched a few people wander into the restaurant.

"Wildcat? You ok?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah. Yeah. Just thinking about…graduation presents." Troy claimed hesitantly.

"So I guess we'll just have to exchange gifts when you get to California in a couple of weeks." She continued.

Troy slouched in his chair just a bit hoping Maria wouldn't walk in the door during this conversation. He lowered his voice and returned a response. "Well, what I've got for you isn't something I really want you to open in front of your mom, or my parents."

Gabriella laughed a little on the other end of the phone. "Ditto." She answered simply. "You aren't at home are you?" she realized with his lowered voice.

She heard Troy breathe deeply on the other end of the phone before he answered her. "No, I'm not. Did I mention that I miss you already and you've been gone, what, six hours?"

Gabriella smiled with just the sound of his voice. It didn't matter what they were talking about, his voice could almost always calm her nerves. "Well, only five counting the time difference, but it feels like forever. I love you." She added in, feeling her face warm with the words.

Troy smiled. "I love you too Baby. It won't be long till I get out there with you ok?" He stopped as he saw Maria come through the door. "I gotta go, ok? I'll call you again before I go to bed." He somewhat rushed the end of their conversation.

"Wait," Gabriella started with confusion. "Troy, where are you?" she tried to get an answer from him once more.

"Um, my date's here." He stumbled just a bit. "I'll explain later, I promise. Love you Baby." He smiled as Maria wandered toward the table.

Troy barely heard the_ "Your what?!"_ interrogation that was almost yelled from Gabriella's throat. He flipped the phone closed, smiled and stood up to greet his girlfriend's mother when she reached their seats.

"Is she back at the dorm?" Maria questioned instead of a simple 'Hello' or 'Hey There' as a greeting.

Troy nodded and smiled. "Yeah. She just got back. Said the flight was fine and she's pooped from the weekend."

He stepped behind Maria quickly and pulled the chair out for her to sit down.

"Thank you." Maria responded and smiled at him honestly. She waited for Troy to sit back down. "I hope you know she calls you before she calls me these days."

Troy lowered his eyes but smiled in her direction. "Sorry?" he questioned through the joy that showed on his face.

"No need to be. I guess I should just be happy that she's still talking to me and calling me at all. I _was_ a teenager once myself you know. These aren't easy years between parents and children." Maria admitted.

Both waited to say anything else as a waiter approached bringing water for both of them and then took their orders. The grilled chicken salad was an easy choice for Maria. Troy let her order first and then requested the baked rigatoni for himself.

Maria watched as he sipped on his ice water and then put the glass down on the napkin beside his plate.

"Sooo?" she looked at her daughter's boyfriend and tried not to laugh at the fearful look on his face. Her phone buzzed in her purse beside the chair before anything else could be said. She lifted it cautiously expecting a message from work. Instead she found a text from Gabriella.

"Excuse me just a moment." Maria glanced at Troy and then opened the message on her phone. She raised one eyebrow and looked back at the sandy-haired young man before giving just a hint of a smile on her Latino face.

"You told Briella that you have a 'date'?" she looked fully at him.

Troy's eyes widened at the realization that it was a message from his girlfriend on her mother's phone. "Uh…yes, I did."

"I take it you didn't tell her who it's with?" Maria lifted the phone to her ear and hit the speed dial button to phone her disheartened daughter.

"I planned to call her after dinner. I swear I did." Troy's shoulders slumped as he waited to hear Maria's side of the conversation. _This dinner certainly wasn't starting the way he wanted it to._

"Honey, deep breath." Maria started with her daughter when she finally had a chance to speak. Troy could only imagine what Gabriella was saying to her. "Briella stop. Let me just say that I am looking directly at Troy right now. He is _not_ with any other girl. Not Sharpay, not even Taylor or Kelsi."

Troy watched as Maria set her chin and took a deep breath. "I promise you Sweetheart. If another girl shows up with him…I will take care of things _personally_."

Troy witnessed first hand the ire of Maria. She didn't have to say a word to him. She didn't have to raise her voice. He had seen the looks from Gabriella. Now…now he knew exactly from whom she had inherited those looks, and the ability to let him know what she was thinking without saying a word.

He dipped his head down, placing his elbows on the table and grasping the hairs at the back of his neck with each of his hands. He only looked up again when he heard Maria's voice. "Would you like to speak to him again?" she asked her daughter.

Troy lay his forearms down on the table and watched as Maria handed the phone across the table. He took it from her gingerly and smiled softly. "Hey."

"Hey?" Gabriella's voice sounded hurt and a bit angry. "You're out on a date and all you can say to me is 'Hey.'?" She stopped.

"Baby, the date…I…I'm here with your mom. My 'date' is with Maria. I was kinda trying to surprise you. I was going to tell you when I called you later." He looked up to see Maria leaning her chin against the backs of her hands with her elbows propped on the table listening intently to Troy's part of the conversation.

"Of course, now, there may not be a later because this may not go as well as I had hoped." He continued and then waited for his girlfriend's response.

"You're out with Mom?" Gabriella asked in confusion.

"Yeah." Troy answered back.

"Oh." Gabriella was speechless. "Then…then I guess I'll let you go and talk to you later?" she asked hopefully with a bit of regret.

"As long as I'm alive later and make it home in one piece…" Troy joked with Maria now. "Yes, I will call you later. Promise."

Gabriella's voice was softer now. "Hey Wildcat?"

"Yeah?" Troy waited patiently with the phone against his ear.

"I love you." She repeated.

Troy smiled softly and ducked his head to avoid Maria's stare. "Love you too Baby. I'll talk to ya later."

And with that, he handed the phone back to Maria and hoped they could start their conversation all over again.

----------

Maria tucked the phone back in her purse and then looked across the table at Troy. "Should we start again?" she asked.

Troy nodded. "If we could, please."

Maria noted the nervousness in his voice. "So I have to ask you, why are we here? Briella's back in California. You have no obligation to see me without her around. So why are we here?"

Troy got the feeling she was talking to one of her business clients. True, he hadn't sat down with her one on one in the past, other than the short conversations at their homes. Tonight was a new beginning for both of them.

He tucked his hands under the table and leaned his chest forward just a bit. Only one phrase had run through his mind concerning the evening's conversation. So now he was simply trying to think of a way to answer this question.

"You are Gabriella's life." He began. "I've kind of invaded that space…or it seems that way at least." Troy took a breath, "I just want to make sure that we can share that space. Because I want to be part of her life for a long time."

Maria smiled at him. "Troy, my Briella is a somewhat shy young lady. She's very intelligent, beautiful and devoted to her studies. My Briella has a hard time opening up to people, especially people her own age. She has acquaintances, but since her father's death, friends have been hard to come by." She watched Troy's face as she spoke. He looked just a little confused.

"My Briella, the one who took charge years ago and told me it was time for us to keep going after Manuel's death, will always be here in my heart Troy. But since we moved here, _MY_ Briella has changed. It's a good change. And I think a lot of it is because of you." She continued to watch as Troy's face softened.

Before he could think of anything to say Maria spoke again. "You're right Troy. You've invaded our lives. From the moment the two of you sang karaoke together on New Year's Eve you took a little piece of her heart. And the day Briella came home from East High and told me that you were there…well, it was pretty obvious that I wasn't in control of her life anymore."

Troy began to feel a bit embarrassed by her words. He hadn't expected her to open up to him so willingly. But, just as he had been with Gabriella, he felt a connection with her mother.

"Maria, we've come a long way in a short time. I feel like I've known Gabriella forever. The first time we had a chance to talk, really talk, it was as natural as me talking to Chad. I felt like I could tell her anything. And I still feel that way. Only now it's even more." He looked at Maria but didn't wait for any sort of confirmation or denial.

"I know I love her. That's why I felt such a pull to go to Berkeley, to be in California, to be close to Gabriella. It's because I know I love her. And I believe she loves me too."

Maria nodded in agreement. "I do believe that Troy. I believe that you love each other. But truthfully you have to know that I double and triple think that belief every day. It's not that I don't trust either of you. You are both just so young. It scares me to think…" she really didn't want to say what she was thinking to this young man.

She didn't want to tell him that she was scared they would run off and get married before they started their freshman year of college and then be doomed from there. She didn't want to tell him that she wanted them to wait until after college graduation to see if they had still held everything together.

Troy watched her eyes dart downward to the table and Maria reached out to take her water glass in hand, pulling the straw toward her lips.

"Do you think I'm making a mistake, going to Berkeley Maria?" Troy asked. He felt like a middle school student again trying to defend his decision. "I'm not going to get angry. I'm open to opinions here. I won't change my mind, but I do want to know what you think." He suggested.

Maria sipped her water then sat back and took a breath looking back at Troy. He was leaning forward onto the table, resting his crossed forearms on the wooden surface.

"I don't believe it's a mistake at all." She breathed in again and smiled across the table at him. "I cried when I left Briella at Stanford the first time. I cried because I didn't know who would be looking out for her. I know she's completely capable of caring for herself. And I know Manuel is watching over her. But I still can't help it. I want to know that someone is close by, watching out for her."

Troy nodded, he completely understood. Gabriella didn't need him close to her. And he didn't need her close to him. But they wanted to be close to each other and Troy was able to make that happen. It was just a decision that would make life a little bit easier for both of them.

"When you said you were going to Berkeley a little bit of weight lifted off my shoulders. Knowing that you would be closer to her made me feel better Troy. It really does make me feel better." Maria sighed.

"But?" Troy wanted her to continue.

Maria pursed her lips together and looked above Troy at the wall for just a moment. "But…you are both old enough to make your own decisions. It scares me to think that you _might_ find a time, _very soon_, when Gabriella needs help and you run to her and then you decide…both of you decide together…that perhaps you need to be even closer."

Troy shrugged his shoulders slowly trying to relieve a bit of tension. He bent his neck to each side and looked at Maria. "Are you talking about marriage?"

Maria looked into his young eyes and nodded slowly. "Or even living together. I know Jack and Lucille have talked to you about this. And Gabriella and I have talked. I really need you both to think college first, at least this first year or two, please?"

Troy nodded back at her and licked his lips. His eyes lost a touch of their sparkle and Maria noticed it right away. "Have I already ruined your plans?" she questioned.

Troy shook his head and swallowed. "No. No, not at all. I have talked to Dad especially. Four years of college before marriage." Troy let the words come from his mouth and sat up a bit straighter. "I know, _we_ know, how important it is to you all…and to me and Gabriella…for us to get through at least these first four or five years of education. If we didn't get that, I don't think we'd be taking full loads and planning to live on campus."

He took a breath and hoped he wasn't sounding rude. "We _get_ it Maria. Gabriella knows what she wants to do. Pre-law is what she's heading toward. She's known that for a while. I don't know exactly what I want to do. But I know I need the college education to help me figure it out. We're not going to blow our college scholarships."

Maria nodded and her face hardened just a touch. "Okay, let's just say you both go through these next four years and are still together. What happens then in your mind Troy? _Are _you thinking marriage down the road? And if you _are_ then what happens if Briella or you want to go to grad school…or both of you?"

Troy smiled at the unsmiling face of this woman who shared so many of Gabriella's traits. Her harsh face was a ruse. With the subject matter it could have been much harder, her entire body could be rigid but it wasn't. Troy knew it was a cover. And he knew they were working up to the question that he had attempted to prepare for.

"_When_ we make it through these four years together I would like to think that we could celebrate and move forward with our lives." He answered.

Maria didn't smile but looked at Troy curiously. "What is that little smirk on your face? What are you up to Mr. Bolton?"

Troy couldn't help but laugh just a little. "I need you to ask me one particular question. It goes along with what we're discussing. But it's kind of a fatherly sort of question in this department."

Maria's eyebrows furrowed deeply as she thought about Troy's request.

"You kind of want to know what I _intend_ to do, right?" He again smiled as he put emphasis on the word.

Maria shook her head. "What are your intentions with my daughter Troy Bolton? If the two of you come through these next four or five years together, what are your intentions?"

Troy finally nodded. "This is just between me and you, promise?"

Maria's eyes widened at his statement. She watched a Troy placed his elbow on the table and pointed his pinky toward her.

"C'mon Mrs. Montez, pinky promise." Troy suggested.

Maria also placed her elbow on the table and held out her pinky. Troy wrapped his little finger around Maria's and pulled them tightly together. With their fingers securely meshed together he looked directly into her face. "There will probably be some poorly worded proposal before graduation happens. But the week after we both graduate with our bachelor's degrees, I intend to take your daughter back up to the rooftop garden at East High and propose to her properly. My engagement ring fund is already started and there's one in particular that I have my eye on. I think Gabriella would really like it."

Maria twisted her head sideways and felt Troy loosen his grip on her pinky.

"Do you believe me?" Troy asked her sincerely.

"I promise you I won't share your plan with anyone." She said quite seriously. "Because in all honesty, I want to see it happen." Maria smiled as the waiter appeared with their food. "And if there's anything I can do to help, you let me know."

**__________**

**_Scenarios: Hawaii_ now available at ; ; or . Thanks to all for your support!  
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	16. Finger Puppets Part 1

**Hey Everyone! This one deserves a little explanation. If you've followed this story at all, you know I have skipped around, bounced back and forth between HSM scenarios and written beyond them a bit. Needless to say the chapters are pretty far out of order. This chapter begins a 4-5 part story which was inspired by one of my co-workers and a chat that she had with her 17 year old daughter. It struck a chord and I could just see the scene playing out between Gabriella and her own mother! So, I wrote it and took it a bit further.**

**Thanks Rhonda for the inspiration. :D As always, I own nothing of the HSM characters except many happy and extraordinary memories, cd's, dvd's and four tubs full of magazines and trinkets - which I am happily still adding to! ha ha!**

**I hope you'll read and enjoy! Don't hesitate to review, pm or e-mail me if you wish. I LOVE hearing from other HSM and Zanessa/Troyella fans. You fuel my imagination and feed my addiction to them!**

**KTZLF! -adc

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"Mama?" Gabriella crept into Maria's room at 5:30 in the morning.

"Briella? Is something wrong, did we oversleep?" Maria's sleepy voice told her daughter that this was going to be a rough conversation.

"I…my stomach is a little queasy. It's early, we didn't oversleep. But I think I need to talk to you." Gabriella shuffled her feet toward the bed without turning on a light.

Maria sat up in her bed and reached over to turn the lamp on. She could see a nearly mortified look on her daughter's face which was pale and lacking a smile in the wee morning hours.

"What has you awake at this hour Sweetheart, and what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Maria began and patted the bed next to her for Gabriella to come take a seat beside her.

"No, no ghost." Gabriella mumbled and sat down beside her mother. She began to wring her hands together gently and couldn't look in her mother's eyes. "I have a confession to make."

Maria wiped her hand across her face and sat still looking at Gabriella's features. Her immediate thought was that perhaps her daughter had flunked an exam, or maybe she had skipped a day of school. This was her senior year after all. She had friends, she had a boyfriend, and Maria loved the fact that Gabriella had this circle to share her experiences.

Maria smiled gently at her. "Well, I'm not a priest, but I think I can probably handle whatever it is."

Gabriella bit her lip. As Maria watched her she could see fear creeping across Gabriella's usually relaxed features.

"Gabriella, what has you this upset?" Maria's tone finally turned from soft and motherly to concern and worry.

"A couple of weekends ago," Gabriella began, still staring at her hands. "When Troy and I and Taylor and Chad were going to double and go to the zoo and then the movies…"

Maria relaxed a hair feeling the confession of a fib coming from her daughter. "Yes?"

"After the zoo, um, instead of going to the movies…" she hesitated and glanced up to her mother's face, "Troy and I went over to the school instead of the movies."

"Alright." Maria shifted in the bed to become more comfortable. "Are we looking at breaking and entering here?"

"No…well, I hadn't even thought about that…" Gabriella stopped for a moment to think about those consequences which made her heart sink even further. Her shoulders drooped and her head hung back down. "Troy has a key." She continued less than eagerly.

"Forget I said anything. That's obviously not what … Sweetheart, you're scaring me." Maria finally admitted.

"I'm scared too Mama. I'm just not sure how to tell you…" Gabriella's legs began to fidget as she sat on the bed. She turned her back to her mother to let her feet dangle off the side.

"Just…whatever words come to mind Briella, Baby Girl, just tell Mama what happened." Maria's mind suddenly caught on the other person Gabriella had mentioned. Still she waited and tried not to let her brain play tricks.

"We went up to the rooftop. We _both_ wanted to spend some time a-_alone_ together." Gabriella wanted to emphasize to her mother that this wasn't just Troy's decision but hers as well.

"Continue." Maria ordered softly.

Gabriella lifted her head, willing herself to gain confidence to talk to her mother. "We…Troy and I…we…_fooled around_ for a while."

Maria's eyebrows raised, her lips pursed together and her eyes darkened as she stared at the back of her daughter's head. Still she tried to keep her voice even as she continued their conversation.

"What do you mean, _'fooled around'_?" She stopped, not wanting to give her daughter any indications of what she was thinking, although it was pretty obvious.

"Touching…kissing…being more, um, intimate than we have been up to this point." Gabriella turned her head and glanced over her shoulder. Maria's arms weren't crossed over her chest as Gabriella expected, but she could see one of her mother's hands gripping at the bed cover, nearly white-knuckled.

"Gabriella," Maria's eyes furrowed together with concern and fear. "We aren't talking about pregnancy here are we?"

The young lady again glanced at her mother and then looked away quickly. "I don't…_think_…so." She said softly but honestly.

"You don't _think_ so?" Maria countered. There was a moment of silence while Maria was choosing her next words. "Mija…did you and Troy…have sex?" She was finally able to squeeze the words between her lips and was startled by Gabriella's reaction.

"Uh…define sex." Maria's eyes widened as she urged her daughter to turn around and look her in the face.

The older woman exhaled solidly and took her daughter's chin between her thumb and index finger to try and hold her gaze. "Did you…and he…have_ intercourse_?" Her voice raised slightly as the importance of this conversation began to sink into her mind.

Gabriella couldn't move her head with the placement of Maria's fingers. But her eyes drifted down to the covers on the bed. She licked her lips as she thought. "Define intercourse." She requested in nearly a whisper.

Maria released her chin and threw the covers off her body. She moved to the other side of the bed and quickly stood up walking over to the window of her room.

Gabriella turned to watch her. Maria's hands were on her hips, face pointing toward Heaven as she tried to determine what exactly she needed to say, and how exactly to keep her cool during this conversation.

She turned back to face the bed and stared at her daughter. There was worry marring Gabriella's face. That led Maria to one conclusion. Gabriella thought she was pregnant. That thought led to another conclusion. Troy Bolton would never taste brownies again.

She curled her left hand into a loose fist and lifted it to cover her mouth. Her mind was circling, trying to focus on the conversation at hand and yet jumping into the near future and the distant one as well. As the silence persisted she tried to remember Gabriella's last words. _Define intercourse._

Maria finally pulled her hand away from her mouth and stepped back toward the bed. Now Gabriella was watching her, waiting for words of wisdom to ease the situation. The mother-figure placed her arms across her belly and then raised her index finger to her lips. After just another moment she used that same finger to point at her daughter.

"At any time…was his penis in your vagina?"

Gabriella's eyes grew wide in the early morning hours, shocked, unsurprisingly by the words her mother had spoken. She shook her head vigorously while looking into her mother's eyes. "No." she answered with a bit of force.

"Was it ever _near _your vagina?"

Gabriella swallowed hard and thought of the activities that had occupied her and the amazing, blue-eyed boy, who had accompanied her to that rooftop so many times.

She ducked her head a bit in embarrassment but kept her eyes locked on Maria's. Maria glanced away only to see that Gabriella's right hand was gently stroking her thigh and tracing aimless patterns over the same area.

"Gabriella. This isn't the time to be embarrassed. I need to know. Did he get anywhere near…" Maria was interrupted by the shaky voice of her daughter attempting not to yell.

"Just here…" she ran a finger over the area between her knee and hip. "How close are you talking because he was here. He…it…he just…it went…" her finger trailed up the outside of her thigh to her hip as Gabriella remembered the look on Troy's face when the release finally hit him.

As frightened as she was at this very moment, she wouldn't trade that evening on the roof for any other night in her life up to this point. She hadn't planned on telling Maria about it, or Taylor, or anyone for that matter. It was supposed to be between her and Troy, just between her and Troy.

But her nerves had gotten the best of her, and along with that came nausea the last two days. She hadn't talked to Troy about it. She was patting herself on the back for being as normal as possible after the fact, over the past two weeks. Until yesterday they had shared their conversations about the closeness and intimacy in the privacy of their homes – while the parents were away - or in Troy's truck while they were alone.

Honestly, they both knew the act had been so amazing that they wanted to shout it to the world. They wanted to tell their best friends and they would swear that both of them had a new glow surrounding them. Instead they had kept it to themselves, hoping that sometime soon they would find the opportunity to repeat it.

That was, until a small twitch in Gabriella's abdomen caught her attention a few days ago. And then the day before, she felt nauseous and tired. This morning was the same.

So now, here she sat on her mother's bed, describing to her where Troy had relieved his pent-up pressure on her body. And she was preparing to tell Maria the rest of the story.

Maria sighed with a touch of relief. "You aren't lying to me about this are you? Gabriella, if there is a chance that you're pregnant, it doesn't matter _who_ the boy is, I need you to be honest."

"Mom!" Gabriella bounced off the bed and came around the bed to face her mother. "I am telling you the truth. Don't get upset at Troy for something that was a mutual decision for _us_. He didn't _force_ me to do anything. What we did…we both wanted it." The tone of her voice softened as their time played again through her mind.

Maria exhaled with a slight look of frustration on her face. "I'll be upset with Troy if I want to be. Don't make me pull out the list from our first month in this town." She sighed again and quickly held up her finger to let Gabriella know she wasn't finished.

"If what you are describing to me is that _the boy_…found relief on your thigh and the _discharge_ went to your outer leg then you should be fine." She stopped for a moment and wrinkled her nose and face, contorting her forehead with various thoughts.

"Briella, we have talked about sex, what it takes to create a baby, about protection. If you're telling me the truth about what happened, why are you concerned…why are you not sure that you aren't pregnant? What aren't you telling me?"

Gabriella looked down at the carpet. That was the question she'd been waiting for. The one that would lead Maria to the confirmation that Troy had put his hands on her…in some of the most intimate ways possible.

"Before Troy…um…well…just before him…the reason he – _I mean we_ – wanted to…he, um, he helped me..." Gabriella stopped to inhale and pressed her lips together as she lifted her eyes to see more questions forming on her mother's face.

"How?" Maria asked bluntly.

"Huh?" Gabriella asked with a startled look.

"How?" Maria repeated. "How did he _help_ you? I mean we're not talking about practicing free throws here Gabriella." Maria added almost sarcastically.

Gabriella ducked her head again. "With…with his fingers."

"Only his fingers?" Maria was trying to play all of the information from her daughter over and over in her head.

Gabriella moved her eyes around the room avoiding her mother's gaze. "Yes. He slid his hand under my…"

Maria kept a blank look on her face. "You kept your underwear on?" Her eyebrows raised.

"Well, yeah." Gabriella said shyly. "Troy said he could _take care of me_ without me having to get undressed." She admitted. "I'm not ready for him to _see me naked."_

At the teen's confession Maria turned again toward the window. This time a smile played on her lips. Her brilliant daughter had finally found something in life that didn't make sense to her. Sure Gabriella had taken the sex education courses. She could name and pinpoint the body parts of the male and female anatomy and could describe in detail the process of sperm joining egg and cells splitting to create a baby.

But without experiencing _it_, without first-hand knowledge of what must happen, she was still in the dark. Straight A's would never mask experience in this department.

Maria turned to Gabriella and offered her a soft smile. She pointed toward the foot of the bed where they both sat down and Maria took her daughter's hands into her own. She looked down at their interlocked fingers and then looked at Gabriella's beautiful face.

"First off Mija…I'm 99 percent sure you aren't pregnant. But if you want, we can get a pregnancy test at the pharmacy. I can pick it up for you and you can take it here at home." Maria watched for Gabriella's reaction.

The fear returned slightly to the young woman's eyes. The hint of tears nearly broke Maria's heart. Gabriella nodded at her mother slowly. "Can…can you get one today? I just want to be sure."

Maria nodded back to her and then ran a finger through Gabriella's hair. "Honey, creating a baby…the man's sperm has to enter the woman's body, _through her vagina._" She added for future reference. "The only way that will happen is for his penis to be in or near that opening when he ejaculates."

"But his finger…"

Maria closed her eyes at the thought of her daughter venturing into this very adult situation. "Was inside of you?" she questioned calmly. She watched as Gabriella blushed and nodded.

"This happened _before_ he…" she dared to use the word that she knew would make both her and Gabriella cringe. "…came?"

"MAMA!" Gabriella's face was completely flushed and that nausea began in her stomach again.

"Just answer the question. Forget the terminology and just answer me." Maria commanded gently.

Gabriella took a breath and looked at their hands. "Yes. He took care of me before I even unbuckled his belt."

Maria raised her palm to her forehead and then moved it to her cheek and finally over her mouth. She shook her head briefly to try and clear the mental images from her mind before looking at her daughter once more.

"You, My Darling, are fine. I will get a pregnancy test today and bring it home." She sat holding her daughter's hands for another few minutes.

Gabriella waited patiently knowing her mother was just trying to work through all of this in her mind.

"Are we ok?" Gabriella finally asked her mother with a squeeze of her hand.

Maria nodded and smiled a closed-lip smile at her daughter. "Thank you." Maria said after another moment.

"For what?" Gabriella countered. "For being stupid? For _not_ making you a grandmother before age 50, hopefully?"

"Don't even joke about that!" Maria added as Gabriella worked to finish her thoughts.

"Then thanks for what?" Gabriella wondered as she placed her head on her mom's shoulder.

"For talking to me." Maria placed a kiss in Gabriella's hair. "As uncomfortable as this was, for both of us, I'm really glad you came to me and I hope that I've helped you at least a little bit."

Gabriella nodded her head against her mother's shoulder. "I knew you would. You've always been here for me. I know it doesn't matter what the problem is…I know you'll listen and help me if you can."

"That is absolutely correct." Maria noted, leaning her cheek over against Gabriella's head. "Can I ask something else…before we're totally off the subject?"

Gabriella raised her head and looked at her mom. She nodded and waited for the question.

"Did you talk to Troy about this?"

Gabriella shyly shook her head 'no'.

"Why not?" Maria pushed.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Just a little scared I guess."

"Scared of Troy?" Maria asked cocking one eyebrow higher on her forehead.

"Scared of looking stupid in front of him, I think." Gabriella thought about Troy's potential reactions. "If I was pregnant he might think I was stupid for letting it happen…if not, he would probably think I was stupid for thinking…"

"Do you really believe that?" Maria stopped her train of thought.

"No." Gabriella thought. "I think I am scared of ruining our futures more than anything. And I know Troy wouldn't take that chance. Mom, you have to know that. Troy wouldn't…not intentionally…you know I trust him." She worked to convince Maria.

"You're in love with him aren't you?" Maria asked with a smile.

Gabriella nodded and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "I think so."

"So…" Maria didn't want to delve more into this relationship even though she would really like to delve into Troy's brain at the moment. "You say Troy _took care of you…" _she watched as Gabriella blushed furiously. "Did he hurt you?"

Through reddened cheeks Gabriella smiled at Maria. "No." she sighed. "I'd have to say…exactly the opposite." She glanced at her mother with bashful eyes.

Maria exhaled. "That would lead me to believe that this…could possibly…occur again?"

"Mom…"

"I swear I'm not digging into your private life with Troy. But I do have a point here." Maria's face took on a bit more seriousness.

"I'm all ears." Gabriella smiled.

"Well I doubt Troy would agree with that, especially now…but anyway…"

"MOTHER!" Gabriella finally giggled at her mother's embarrassment. "Seriously, what's your point?"

"If your relationship with Troy has turned this serious we may need to look into something…protective for you."

Gabriella's eyes stared directly into Maria's. The conversation fell short though as Maria's alarm clock blared beside the bed.

"Shoot." Maria looked at the clock knowing Gabriella needed to get ready for school. "What's on tap after school today?" she looked back at her daughter.

Gabriella shrugged and turned to make the alarm stop sounding. "Nothing, I think. Troy has basketball practice. Taylor and I were going to work on a couple of projects and wait for the guys to catch rides home with them."

"Mmm-hmmm." Maria gave a guilty grin. "You realize that answers like that are now going to make my mind wander."

"Do you trust me? And Troy?" Gabriella asked from her heart.

"Honestly?" Maria watched her nod in response. "I'm trying to." She smiled. "I trust you. I've known you since birth and raised you. It's that _boy,"_ she smiled a bit wider, "that worries me."

Gabriella looked back at her mom as she leaned over and placed a kiss on Maria's cheek. "_That boy_ is named Troy. And I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him."

The two grinned at each other as Gabriella headed out the door and over to her room to get dressed. "We _WILL_ continue this conversation tonight." Maria yelled toward the hallway.

"Yes Mom." Gabriella answered.

Maria took a moment to fall backwards on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "God…Manuel…whoever is listening up there. _HELP!"_

**TGTGTG**

Maria moved slowly as she got up from the bed and pulled the covers up over the pillows. She straightened the comforter and placed the decorative throws against the headboard. All the while the thought of her little girl was running through her mind.

She knew Gabriella would one day find a boy and feel that urge to be intimate. But Maria had honestly thought it would be much further down the road than this. She had imagined it being in the latter years of Gabriella's college life, not during her senior year in high school.

Maria swallowed to ease her dry throat and heard a tone from Gabriella's phone in the bedroom down the hall. _The Troy wake-up call…_ It had become a familiar sound in their house around 6:45 each morning on school days. It made the mother smile.

He was kind, he was courteous, he was obviously in-tune with Gabriella's feelings. He had been, amazingly, since their first day of school together just over a year prior. His family was kind and considerate and loved Gabriella as though she were their daughter as well. Still, the idea of Gabriella and Troy and intimacy… Maria had to stop as she headed into the closet to pick her clothes for the day.

She stepped toward the tv cabinet and picked up the picture that she would forever cherish. A three-year-old Gabriella in the arms of her smiling father, kissing him on the cheek with every ounce of slobber that she could muster. Maria ran her thumb over their faces and smiled.

"She's not three anymore Manuel." She spoke directly to the picture. "She's 17, and she's met a boy, and she's in love." She sighed. "Part of me says I should be upset about this. The thing is, My Love, I'm not." She leaned her back against the closet door and continued looking into her former husband's eyes as she talked.

"Troy…that's the boy's name…he is good to her. And they have a connection that I can't describe. I've seen him do everything in his power to make Gabriella happy." She sighed as her thoughts turned to the future. "I don't know what happens when our Baby goes to college next year. I don't know Troy's plans. This is his home, I think he plans to stay here and go to the local university. But I am fairly sure that this connection between them is something that isn't going to go away."

A few tears gathered in her eyes as she stared at the little girl in the picture. Her eyes moved back to the face of the man that Maria still loved with all her heart. "You really don't want to know what started this conversation. Your daughter and her boyfriend are discovering the joys of being intimate. Would you please tell me how I'm supposed to keep an eye on that while I'm traveling and she's here by herself. Forget that…even when I _am _here…you've seen him climb that tree outside."

Maria moved a hand to the back of her neck and sighed with a few exasperated breaths. "I know. She is a good girl. I trust her. I trust her decisions. I am _trying_ to trust Troy. I swear to you I am."

The soft knock at the door caught Maria's attention and pulled her away from her thoughts. "Yes?" she answered.

"Mama? Who are you talking to?" Gabriella's voice came through.

Maria chuckled softly and glanced back at the picture. "I was just asking your _father_ what exactly I need to say to Troy when _I_ have a father/son chat with him."

Gabriella's eyes grew wide and she quickly opened the door and stuck her head inside. "You wouldn't, would you?"

Maria lifted her eyebrows and brought her lips together. "Who else would do it? Gabriella, Troy's had it pretty easy with you…with us…so far in that department. If your father was still alive this could be an entirely different situation."

Gabriella stood at the door trying not to roll her eyes at her mother. "You always say that things happen for a reason. If Daddy were still alive we probably wouldn't even be here in Albuquerque. Troy and I probably would've never met. This whole weird string of events that got us here was meant to bring me and Troy together. And honestly, I think Daddy had a hand in it."

"Fine then." Maria conceded a bit sternly. "Then your father can provide me with the words and questions that he would use _when_ I talk to Troy." She watched as Gabriella's face fell just a bit, knowing her mother was serious about having this conversation.

"When?" Gabriella asked hesitantly.

Maria opened her mouth to speak and then stopped to take a breath and shake her head at her daughter. "Well I'm not talking about tonight…Gabriella, really. Did you need something?"

Gabriella leaned from side to side trying to get a feel for her mother's frustration. "I…I'm not riding the bus this morning. Troy's going to come pick me up."

Maria looked at the 17 year old in front of her and then at the picture of the three year old girl on the shelf. "You realize, with our chat…that wasn't my way of giving you permission to take things farther with him. You know that." Her eyes shifted to a darkened state of seriousness.

Gabriella nodded. "As long as you know that he won't hurt me. You know_ that_, right?"

Maria nodded hesitantly with lips pursed together. "Tonight we talk more. Serious personal business Young Lady. Business between me and you, not me, you and Troy. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am." Gabriella answered. "So it's ok for him to pick me up this morning?"

Maria eyed her daughter with a look that said _'I can't even believe you feel you have to ask…'_ and then waved her hand toward the door, shooing her daughter out of her room.

Again Maria threw her head back and looked Heaven-ward. "Yes, I know. She's me. And I fell in love with you at age 16…and we made it." Maria's dark hair fell across her shoulders as she lowered her chin and twisted her neck to loosen her muscles.

She looked into the mirror and around the room with a mixture of thoughts in her mind. _There is no way I can work today._ The truth finally hit her. She picked up her own cell phone from the bedside table and opened a new text page.

"_Please call me when you get this. Is there any chance you can have lunch today? Our house, any time, my treat."_ Maria looked through her contacts for the number she needed and quickly hit send. With a deep breath and a quick choice of comfortable clothes she headed into the shower.

Hopefully, with another set of listening ears, she could recount the early morning conversation and possibly get some help with the chat that would continue later that evening.

**1TGTGTGTGTG1**


	17. Finger Puppets Part 2

**So our fave couple is back in Hawaii? Hehehe! I LOVE it! I know...I'm supposed to be writing a whole bunch of Everyday chapters, and hopefully I'll get to those. There are just so many options to choose from now, it's amazing! Happy 5th anniversary Z & V!**

**Thanks everyone for your reviews, pm's & e-mails. You know you just feed my addiction and fuel my imagination with all of your thoughts, encouragement and ideas! Please, keep 'em coming! :D  
**

**KTZLF! -adc

* * *

  
**

Lucille Bolton moved through the kitchen tossing a sandwich, apple and some chips into the brown paper lunch bag for her son. It didn't surprise her in the least when she heard the stomping feet heading her direction from the adjoining room.

"Where's the fire?" she asked as Troy pulled his t-shirt down over his stomach and ran a hand through his wet hair.

"Gabriella wants me to pick her up this morning instead of her riding the bus." He answered quickly before stopping to give his mom a kiss on the cheek.

"Everything ok?" she wondered, realizing that he was about to leave the house before his father, and a full half hour earlier than he normally did.

"Yeah, I think." Troy responded. "I don't think she was feeling good yesterday, she was really quiet. I just wanna get there before Maria leaves for work to check and make sure Gabriella's ok to go to school. You know how she is, she could be on her death bed, but she'd drag herself in to get to Calculus and Chemistry."

Lucille smiled and placed a hand on his cheek and squeezed gently. "You're such a caring boyfriend," she cooed at her only son. "So glad you've listened to me and not your father."

"Hey." Jack Bolton only caught the last line of the conversation between his wife and son but knew he was being insulted. "Whatever it is I'm crying foul!"

Troy grabbed the sack lunch from his mother and the keys off the counter. He patted his dad on the back. "No foul this time. That was a perfectly clean shot…and I don't even think it touched the net on the way through."

The parents heard the front door slam as their 18 year old son headed out the door. They waited for the single backfire from the muffler and the somewhat loud grumbling engine of Troy's truck. Once they heard the noise head down the street they knew their son was gone.

Jack placed a quick kiss on his wife's lips before stepping away and handing her the cell phone that had been left in the bedroom overnight. "So what exactly have I done…or not done…on Troy's behalf this time?" he questioned.

Lucille looked at the phone and was a bit surprised to see the blinking envelope on the main screen. "You got a text while I was in the shower apparently." Jack tried to inform her. "It was beeping when I came out of the bathroom."

Troy's mom scrunched her eyebrows together showing his father a hint of worry as she read the message.

"What's up?" Jack asked.

"Well, now I'm a little worried. Troy said Gabriella wasn't feeling well yesterday. Now I've got Maria asking me to come to their house for lunch today." Lucille answered.

"She's probably worked herself into exhaustion. Between her class schedule, the play practices, tutoring and trying to run around with Troy and help him…" Jack thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, she was kinda sluggish in p.e. yesterday."

His wife looked at him concerned. "Did you say anything to her?"

Jack smiled at her. "Luce. I had them running laps. She was just in the back of the pack with Taylor and Kelsi. They walked a few laps. She usually runs them all. It wasn't like she asked to sit out or anything. I honestly didn't think much about it."

Lucille shook her head. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. Jack you have to watch out for her just like you do Troy."

The coach rolled his eyes at his wife and put his hands in the air in surrender. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't. I thought it was Troy's job to watch out for her. He's the boyfriend."

Lucille stepped closer to her husband and climbed on her toes to leave a light kiss on his jaw. "Yes, and if we want to keep it that way then you have to help them." She smiled. "If she's sick and you notice it then you need to tell Troy to give her some extra attention."

Again Jack rolled his eyes. "I will try to keep an eye on both of them today. Fair enough?"

Lucille nodded knowing this would be the best answer she could get from her p.e. teacher husband.

"Don't you have several appointments this morning?" Jack mentioned as he watched Lucille reading the message on her phone again.

She nodded her head and then raised her eyes as she thought. "But I can wrap up with those by 12:30 or 1:00. I'll just call Maria and see what's going on."

Jack nodded and then looked back at his wife. "Um…Where was Troy going?" He finally realized that his son had left in a hurry, and earlier than normal.

"Picking up Gabriella for school. He wanted to check with Maria to make sure she's actually allowed to go to school if she isn't feeling well." Lucille explained.

Jack tilted his head, pursed his lips together and raised his eyebrows. "He knows her pretty well, huh?"

"Mmm-hmm." Lucille answered quietly as she put the phone to her ear and waited for Maria to answer.

**TGTGTG**

"Gabriella, what's Troy doing here already? It's barely five after seven." Maria called up the steps as she heard the familiar sound of Troy's pickup pulling into the driveway.

"I didn't ask him to come early Mom…I don't know why he's this early. I've still gotta get my clothes on." Gabriella shouted back down the steps as Maria opened the door.

She noticed the widening of Troy's eyes as he caught the last part of Gabriella's declaration and how his eyes quickly shifted away from her own as the blush crept into his cheeks.

"I suppose that tells you that she's not ready yet. Come on in. Do you need breakfast?" Maria asked a little more curtly than usual with her daughter's boyfriend.

Troy shook off the momentary touch of embarrassment as he realized that Maria was quickly moving beyond that topic. "Um…can I just grab some toast and jam? I totally forgot to get anything at home after Gabriella called back."

Maria led the way through the living room into the kitchen and pulled two packages of bread from the drawer holding them up for Troy to choose. "Wheat or white?" she asked and attempted to smile at the young man with the tousled hair who still looked sleepy.

"White please." Troy stepped toward her. "I can make it, if you don't mind, I mean."

Maria nodded and handed the loaf to him while she went back to emptying the dishwasher. "Do you know where…" she turned and saw his head poked into the refrigerator and watched as he pulled the jar of jam from the middle shelf of the door. "I guess that answer is yes…" she spoke to herself as Troy grabbed a butter knife from the utensil drawer.

"Sorry." Troy offered with a shrug of his shoulders. "You've just told me to make myself at home so many times. I guess it finally sank in."

Maria watched him as he put two slices of bread in the toaster, adjusted the setting to 'medium' instead of 'light' and pressed the handle down. He turned his back and leaned against the counter waiting for the bread to bake.

"Well that's good." Maria commented and then held out several forks and spoons for Troy to grab. "Then put these away for me, will ya?" she suggested.

Troy smiled at her and took the cutlery and slid it into the drawer with the other utensils. That's where the conversation stalled.

"So what brings you over so early?" Maria asked after a few seconds.

"Oh," Troy began as the toast popped up. He turned to get the golden brown pieces and then looked back at Maria sheepishly. "Um, plates?"

She pointed above his head to the cabinet directly over him. He smiled as he turned around and opened the door. "I knew that. I was just testing you." He joked.

As he put the bread on the plate and began to spread the jam he continued answering her question. "Gabriella didn't seem to feel well yesterday. She just was real quiet all day. I asked her what was wrong and she just said 'pms' so I left her alone. But I just wanna make sure she isn't really sick. Cause I won't take her to school if she's sick and needs to stay home. Matter of fact, if you have to work, I'll stay home with her if you need me to."

Maria smiled behind the rambling young man. Remembering the conversation that transpired just over an hour prior Maria thought hard before speaking again. Several sarcastic statements crossed her mind first. And then she recalled that Troy had no idea of Gabriella's scare, or that anyone else other than them knew exactly how far this relationship had come.

"She's ok Troy." She finally answered.

"Ok." He answered and turned around with his plate to sit down at the table in the middle of the room. "I just know how she is. She could be puking here at home and would still tell me that she's fine to go to school. But I figured you would know best." He licked a bit of jam from his thumb and index finger before looking up at Maria's face.

She smiled down at him from her leaning post by the sink. "I'm pretty sure she's fine. She'll probably feel a little better today than she did yesterday."

"Ok." Troy answered again. "If you say so, then I'll believe her."

Maria thought for a moment as she watched Troy eating silently. She crossed her arms over her chest loosely. "Troy, can I ask you something?" she finally began.

"Uh, sure." He nodded his head and wiped a few bread crumbs from his mouth with a napkin.

Maria began to fiddle with the spoon in her coffee cup as she tried to figure out exactly what she wanted to ask him. This wasn't the time for the fatherly chat. But it was a few moments one on one and somehow she wanted to know his thoughts, about her daughter.

"You…and Gabriella…seem to have a pretty deep…connection." She attempted to choose her words carefully. Maria stared at the spoon she was swirling in the caramel-colored liquid. "I don't know that she's ever had a friend… a boy… that she's had such a bond with."

Troy put the toast on the plate and wiped his lips again. He looked toward Maria and noticed that she really wasn't looking at him. She seemed nervous.

"I'm, um, not sure what you're getting at." Troy offered.

Maria took a deep breath and looked at him across the short distance. "I've always felt like I was closer to my daughter than anyone else in this world Troy. Now that she's growing up, I know that's going to change. And it seems like…" Maria pursed her lips trying once more to choose her words, "like she is letting you into…her…" she stopped in thought.

Troy watched Maria, trying to understand what she was saying. "Her heart?" he asked sincerely.

Maria looked away from him and nodded her head just once in agreement.

He could see the hint of emotions that Maria was trying to hold back. He shrugged one shoulder, catching Maria's eye and drawing her gaze back to his face. "I hope she is…letting me in, that is. Cause she's already so far into mine that I can barely think about anything else."

"Mom? Wildcat?" Gabriella's voice broke the heat of Troy's confession and sent two sets of eyes darting toward the door to the living room. "What's going on in here?" Gabriella felt a tension in the room. But it wasn't one of anger or frustration…it was simply the air of an unfinished conversation.

Troy scooted back in his chair and opened an arm to his girlfriend as he took another bite of his toast. Maria watched as Gabriella walked toward him and sat down in his lap, pulling his free arm around her waist. Gabriella's mother could tell the movement was tentative at first, on Troy's part, but with the soft smile Maria offered, along with Gabriella's urging, he finally let his arm rest comfortably, ironically spreading his palm and fingers across her abdomen to hold her close.

Maria smiled a bit wider at both of them. "Mija, do you want breakfast?"

Gabriella looked at Troy with a slight grin and picked up his second piece of toast. "Nope, I'm good."

"Hey!" Troy made little effort to stop his girlfriend from taking a bite of the bread. "Here, jump up. I'll make a couple more pieces."

At this point, Maria blushed a bit. She watched Gabriella slide smoothly off his legs and take his place in the chair that Troy abandoned. The young lady smiled up at her boyfriend as he bent back down and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Good morning, by the way." Troy smiled softly at her. "Are you feeling better than yesterday?"

Gabriella looked shyly toward Maria, knowing her mother was watching their every move. Her mother, although watching them, was hiding her widening smile behind her cup of coffee that was stationed in front of her lips.

"Yeah." Gabriella answered Troy. "Stomach's still not quite up for pizza or spicy stuff but it's feeling better."

Maria gave her daughter a silent nod as Troy turned back toward the bread and toaster on the counter. The phone ringing on the table caught all of their attention. Gabriella reached for her mother's device but was surprised when Maria took it from her hands.

"Sorry, work call." Maria fibbed to the teens. She stepped out of the kitchen with coffee in one hand and phone in the other before answering to the voice of Troy's mom on the other end.

**TGTGTG**

Maria made sure the door closed behind her before accepting the call. "Hi there." She answered a bit awkwardly. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Not at all." Lucille answered. "Although I am a bit worried. Is Gabriella ok?"

Maria stopped in her tracks when she heard the question, her first thought drifting to Gabriella's fear in the wee morning hours. Then, she remembered Troy's reason for being at their house so early.

"She's fine." Maria assured Troy's mom. "Cramps, you know, the monthly curse."

"Ah. Troy was a bit worried and left the house in a rush. Then when I got your text it worried me." Lucille picked back up at making breakfast for Jack as their conversation moved on. "So what's this about lunch?"

Maria kept her voice a bit low and turned her back on the kitchen door, moving farther into the living room. "Well, I had an interesting conversation with my daughter this morning. I would really like to talk to someone about it, and you were the first person that came to mind."

"Can I guess that my son played some part in that chat?" Lucille's interest was beginning to rise even farther than it already had.

"You could say that." Maria took a moment to glance back toward the kitchen when a loud female giggle sounded from the behind the door. "And with both of them here at the moment, I'd rather not go into anymore details."

"They aren't making plans to elope are they?" Lucille asked with a hesitant chuckle.

Maria joined her in the short laugh. "No. I think they are both too smart for that." She stepped toward the couch and sat down on the edge for just a second to finish the call. "Is lunch a possibility?"

Lucille glanced again at her calendar. "Would 2:00 be too late? I've got a couple of appointments this morning that I can't cancel. But I could be there around two."

Maria smiled. "Will grilled chicken salad work?" The idea seemed like a simple combination for the topic at hand.

Lucille nodded on her end of the line. "Sounds perfect." She didn't attempt to say anything else as she heard two young, loud voices emerging from around Maria's side of the call. "Tell Troy to keep his mind on the road on the way to school please."

Maria shook her head as the teens came out of the kitchen bickering playfully. "Will do…if I can just get them out the door."

The teens' mothers ended the phone call without any hint of conspiracy. Maria watched the young couple as Troy attempted to keep a tight hold on Gabriella's wrists while she was simply in a constant fit of giggles.

Maria then noticed the faint line of red running between Troy's eyebrows and down his nose.

Troy somewhat gently pushed Gabriella all the way to the recliner that was sitting in the corner of the room. When she finally sat down on the chair he bent toward her. "Pointer finger out, now." He ordered with a smile as her laughter began to subside.

Maria saw a slight pout attempt to form on her daughter's face as she held up her right index finger at her boyfriend. Troy turned his face and proceeded to wrap his lips around Gabriella's index finger and gently suck on it for a few seconds. Their eyes locked on each other as he finally let the tip of her finger release from his mouth.

"That is where the jam is supposed to go. NOT on my nose." He let go of both of her hands and turned toward Maria. "May I use the restroom?"

Maria had to smile at both of them. She shook her head at Gabriella's playfulness and then offered Troy a sweet glance. "Make yourself at home Troy. You know where it is. The washcloths are…"

"…in the linen closet in the hall, just outside the bathroom." Troy finished her thought.

Maria nodded and turned her gaze toward Gabriella who was watching Troy walk out of the room.

Gabriella barely noticed when her mother stepped toward her and placed a hand on her shoulders. "Do you recall what we were talking about just a little while ago?" Maria asked.

Gabriella looked up at her and nodded. "He deserves to know that you were scared. If you are going to be that close, and if you really care for each other, then the mental part of your relationship is just as important as the physical part." She raised her eyebrows as she watched Gabriella's face redden yet again. "Does that make sense?"

Gabriella nodded.

"You should be able to talk to him as easily as you talked to me." Maria added in a hushed voice.

"That wasn't easy." Gabriella admitted.

"No. But you did it." Maria put a hand on Gabriella's cheek and curled her lips into an easy closed-lip grin. "And now that you understand a little more it should be easier to talk to Troy."

"Talk to Troy about what?" the male voice startled both Maria and Gabriella.

"We'll…um…it's…" Gabriella stumbled over her words and looked to Maria for help.

"About not coming over here so early on school mornings…unless you plan to make toast for all of us next time." Maria turned and smiled at the 18 year old behind her.

"Now, both of you. Out of here. Wait. Kitchen." Maria ordered them both back through the living room. She opened the door and peered at the table and counters. "Ok. Looks like it's all still in one piece and everything's put away. I guess you can go. Don't be late for school."

Troy and Gabriella grinned at her mother and headed toward the front door. Troy grabbed Gabriella's bag on the way out and held the door for her to exit the house. Maria watched as he opened the passenger door and helped her into the beat-up old truck.

"Oh, Troy, your mom says to keep your mind on the road on the way to school." Maria added before Troy climbed into the truck.

He glanced at Gabriella and threw a sideways smirk back at Maria. "I'll do my best." He yelled back.

Maria closed the door before the noisy engine started.

In the truck Troy leaned over and gave Gabriella a soft kiss on the lips. He sat back up and stared out the windshield with a confused look on his face. Gabriella watched as he tilted his head and looked back at her. "When did she talk to my mom?"

**2TGTGTGTGTG2**


	18. Finger Puppets Part 3

Troy backed the truck out of the driveway and headed down the street toward the high school. The radio was humming a random tune and it only took him a couple of minutes to notice Gabriella's quietness again.

"You sure you're feeling ok?" Troy stole a glance at her simply sitting in the passenger seat and looking out the window.

"Yeah." She turned, looked at him and nodded. "We do have a few extra minutes before school this morning, though, don't we?"

Troy pulled to a red light and quickly checked the time on his phone. "Yeah. We're gonna be like 15 or 20 minutes earlier than usual. Why?"

"Do you mind if we just sit in the truck…and talk?" Gabriella requested shyly.

Just before the light turned green Troy looked at her expecting a mischievous smirk on her lips. Instead he saw a nervous look on her face with lips straight across, eyes simply looking in his direction.

He didn't answer as he pushed on the clutch and shifted into first gear, gently pressing the gas pedal to move them forward. The thought of a smile wiped from his mind and jumped to various ideas of what they needed to talk about.

Troy set his sights firmly on the road in front of them before he spoke again. He felt his stomach twist and an invisible blockage in his throat. "Are you breaking up with me?" he finally asked very simply.

Gabriella's eyes widened as her face turned toward him, this time with fear etched across her skin. "No." she answered directly and then thought for just another moment. "Is there a reason I should?" her eyes watched him closely.

Troy leaned his head sideways and threw her his best _you've got to be kidding me_ look. "I just know you weren't feeling good the past couple of days. And – don't read too much into this – I know it wasn't p.m.s." he tossed her another concerned look.

Gabriella resisted the obvious question that came to her mind and turned her inquisitive eyes away from him. So Troy pressed on. "So are you ready to tell me what's going on?" he asked hopefully.

She brought her fingertips to her mouth and began nibbling on her short, clear-painted nails.

Troy's shoulders dropped as his mind began to race around to figure out the topic before she actually verbalized it. Her nervousness didn't help his well-being at all. To break the silence Troy said the first thing that came to his head. "Your mom has to move again?"

His girlfriend looked at him sympathetically this time, knowing he was grasping at straws. "No, Troy. We're here, till graduation at least, we're in Albuquerque." She paused for a minute knowing that she needed to find someway to appease him until they actually parked at the school. She certainly didn't want to throw _'I thought I might be pregnant'_ at him while he was driving.

"Troy, this isn't a bad thing." She offered quietly with a smile. "You're probably gonna think I'm completely stupid when I tell you. But I don't want to tell you while you're driving." She added softly.

Troy accepted her smile and soft voice and reached a hand over to rub his fingers against her cheek for a second. "Now why would I ever think that the Freaky Math Girl is stupid? Don't you know me better than that by now?" He stopped momentarily and then shrugged his eyebrows up and down a couple of times before flashing a wanting grin at her. "I have a lot of thoughts about you now." He said with a deeper voice. "'Stupid' certainly isn't one of them."

Gabriella blushed at his forward statement. "Troy!" she giggled just a little as he drove the truck into the school parking lot and pulled it into the assigned parking space.

Few other cars were parked there because of the early hour. So before she could begin any explanation whatsoever, Troy quickly removed his seatbelt, scooted to the middle of the bench seat and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he situated his hand on the back of her head to pull her closer to him.

He pressed a kiss to her lips and held them together with only the lightest pressure from his hand. Gabriella's hands wrapped around his neck on instinct. Her hands moved to caress the back of his neck and the edge of his ear.

Minutes passed as each enjoyed the simple act, joined together at the lips, forgetting everything else around them. Troy pulled his mouth from hers and leaned his forehead against her own watching as her lips formed the excited smile that he loved so much. "Good Morning." He smiled back at her.

"You said that already you know, back in the kitchen, at home?" she reminded him as she licked her lips to prepare them for another kiss.

"So?" Troy answered in attempt to show her that he didn't care.

"So…do it again." Gabriella's eyes gazed into his brightly making Troy smile as he tilted his head to allow their mouths to meet once more.

After several more minutes, with hands beginning to wander and breaths hitching at various touches Troy pulled back again. "School." He practically whimpered.

Gabriella put her palms against his shoulders and gently pushed him away from her knowing it was actually against both of their wills at the moment. "We've still got 15 minutes." She mentioned as she ran a hand through her hair and twisted the rear view mirror around to try and fix her lip gloss that Troy had successfully removed.

Troy slid back to the driver's side and leaned up against the door watching her. "So are you gonna tell me?" he asked with arms crossed.

"Hmmm?" Gabriella pressed her lips together to smooth out the shiny liquid and touched it up with the tip of her pinky as a few cars began to pull into the lot.

Troy touched her arm then moved the mirror back into place as he looked at her from across the seat. "What worried you enough over the past couple of days to make you sick?"

Gabriella leaned back against the passenger door and batted her eyelashes at him several times as she thought. "You promise you won't think I'm stupid?" she asked while watching his eyes.

Troy nodded and raised his eyebrows. "I'm a pretty smart guy, you know? Even if I think it, I'm not gonna say it!" he admitted.

Gabriella sighed his name loudly and looked for something to throw at him. She found nothing causing her to pout and Troy to laugh for just a moment. When her eyes dropped to Troy's hands instead of his eyes he knew she was about to let it out.

"Earlier this week, I felt something weird, like here." She placed her fingertips below her waistline, just over to the left. "It was probably just gas or something. But then I started thinking about it and I started feeling kinda sick to my stomach." She looked up quickly to see that Troy was listening to her.

"Any other time I would've just…I don't know…I wouldn't have thought about it too much. But I keep thinking about us…and being together…and…" Gabriella ducked her head and lifted her eyes to see Troy's questioning gaze. "I thought I might be pregnant." She said quickly and then sucked in a breath.

Troy's eyes grew. Any sleepiness he had still felt was now gone as was every drop of moisture in his throat and mouth. He continued to breathe shallowly through his nose while his mouth was just shut. He silently watched her eyes look away from him with her body tightening as though she was scared.

Gabriella wasn't sure what else to say. "That's…um…that's what Mom thought I should talk to you about…when she…"

"I wouldn't leave you, you know?" Troy blurted out, not even hearing what she was saying at the moment. When Gabriella stopped talking and their eyes met he went on. His hand reached for the back of his neck and he began to massage the muscles there. "I don't want that to happen, not yet I mean, but if it did…if you…if _we_ … made a baby, I wouldn't leave you. I love you."

Both of them pressed their backs to the opposite doors as the thoughts and words penetrated their hearts and minds. Their eyes shuffled between hands, the seat, faces, the windshield and then back to each other.

"I'm not." Gabriella finally spoke. "Mom says I'm not. But she's going to pick up a test for me to take tonight just to make sure."

Troy's eyes gently questioned her. "Wh-Why do you think? We didn't…I was on…you weren't even…" he stumbled in his thoughts trying to piece together something that would even put them close to the act that was required for pregnancy.

"That's why I didn't say anything earlier. That's the stupid part." Gabriella looked down at her hands in her lap.

"Gabriella." Troy gently chastised her.

"No, seriously, it is. We enjoyed each other. You made me feel…Troy I can't even describe it. And it was safe. I knew it was safe. I knew you wouldn't take any chances, you wouldn't hurt me, I know that. But there's that one little part of me…I guess it's the naïve freaky math girl in me…that just thought…" Gabriella's chin dipped back to her chest before Troy moved across the seat again.

"We've talked about this a lot…how amazing it felt to just, touch, each other. But you never mentioned being scared." Troy lifted his hand to place his palm on her cheek.

"I wasn't. I was never _scared_. I wasn't sure what to expect and yeah, I was nervous. But I wasn't scared." Gabriella lifted her hand to Troy's face and moved some hair away from his eyebrows. She ran her tongue over her lips holding back just a second before admitting, "When I'm with you, I'm not scared of anything you do to me…not anymore. I trust you Troy. I know you'll take care of me."

Troy's eyes danced around her face with understanding but still tinged with a bit of concern. "Maria knows." His question was a statement, more of realizing words that Gabriella had used just a few minutes before.

"Yes." She answered and took Troy's hands in hers. "And I'm due for a mother/daughter chat, tonight."

"She allowed me in the house this morning. She's still ok with me?" Troy asked genuinely.

"You're due for a mother/boyfriend chat, soon." Gabriella grinned.

"Will your chat include something about not 'engaging in such activities again until you're married'?" he wondered with an exaggerated parental voice.

Gabriella sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and shook her head gently while looking up at her boyfriend with innocent eyes. "No." she breathed in and spoke through the held breath. "Mom mentioned something about finding protection for me…because this," she lifted a hand and let it glide down Troy's chest almost seductively before pulling her fingers across to her own body, "_will_ happen again."

Troy sucked in his own breath at her actions and the look on her face. "Will protection make you less…nervous?" he asked with voice growing gruff again.

Gabriella's leg began to patter against the seat of the old truck. "I'm still not ready for all out … sex." She said quietly, expecting a look of disappointment in Troy's eyes. Instead she saw the hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"But?" he wondered as his eyes twinkled.

"But I will be less worried about us being," she hesitated, "undressed at the same time."

Troy leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips again. Both knew this makeout session wouldn't go any farther than it already had this morning. Even with the images now flashing through both of their minds it was pure playfulness that guided their hands and attitudes. That was a plus as the older model sports car pulled up in the space beside them.

"The school rule about p.d.a's goes for the parking lot too!" a teasing voice sounded through the driver's side window. "Save it for the rooftop you two or you're gonna be late for first period. Besides I'm not ready to be an uncle yet."

At Chad's less-than-menacing words Troy and Gabriella pulled away from each other with wide eyes staring. "You didn't tell…" Gabriella didn't even finish the question before Troy swore to her that nothing was shared between him and his best friend.

"And Taylor?" Troy questioned.

"Nope, just Mom." Gabriella put three fingers in the air as Troy cringed at the mention of Maria's knowledge of their extra-curricular activities. "Scout's honor."

"I'll deal with that when I have to." He pointed a thumb in Chad's direction outside the truck. "Then that's purely coincidence and nothing either of us have to explain to anyone. Right?"

Gabriella smiled and nodded her head knowing Troy was again working to take care of her. "But if you ever tell me that we have to name our firstborn 'Chad Taylor Bolton' you'll owe me a lot of explanations.

Troy pointed a finger in her direction as she laughed. "And here I thought our first kid would be named 'Karaoke Darbus'.

Gabriella held her laughter for a split second as they both considered the proposed name. She pressed her face against Troy's shirt as he opened the door to the truck. Chad and Taylor both watched with amusement as the relaxed couple practically fell out of the vehicle.

**TGTGTG**

Maria opened the door with a smile on her face and shared a hug with Lucille who handed her a paper shopping bag from the local bakery.

"Chocolate cupcakes." Lucille shared as Maria peeked into the bag. "I know your brownies are apparently the best in the world, according to Troy, but I just had a hunch that extra chocolate just might come in handy this afternoon."

The two women laughed as they wandered through the living room and into the kitchen. "I appreciate you taking time to come over. I really don't even know where to begin and wasn't sure at all who to talk to. But this is something that'll just keep playing through my mind if I don't talk to someone about it."

Maria gestured toward the table that was already set with two plates, forks and glasses. As Lucille sat down Maria pulled the chicken salad from the refrigerator along with a pitcher of iced tea. She placed the items on the table and then took a seat and told Troy's mom to 'dig in'.

After a few quiet bites and a compliment from Lucille, Maria began. "Our kids have come a long way over the past year." She smiled and took a sip of her tea.

Lucille breathed out and nodded her head. "It really is amazing. I'm still trying to get it through my head that they met at the ski lodge, then again here and just how close they are now. It feels like they just met."

Maria agreed. "They have gotten _close_," she chose the word very carefully, "it amazes me that they seem like they've known each other since pre-school…but it's just been a little over a year."

It was Lucille's turn to nod. "I have to admit, I spy on them sometimes when they're at our house working on homework." She grinned just a little.

"They are entertaining to watch aren't they?" Maria added. "I got a little show from them this morning which was rather humorous." She mirrored Lucille's smile.

The two women's eyes met with their smiles, seemingly reading the others mind. "The last time Gabriella was over they asked to do homework in Troy's room instead of the living room. I didn't think much about it…until things got really quiet in there, even with the door open."

Maria lowered her eyes to her salad and then glanced back up at her friend. "Something I should know about?" she ventured to request.

"I had been in the laundry room folding clothes. Gabriella actually made the request to move into the bedroom. When I went to the kitchen I fully expected them to be discussing some subject that was far over my head. Instead it was very quiet. The door was open so I peeked in." Lucille continued.

Maria held her fork still for a moment taking in the information. "And?" she pulled for more.

"And, Troy was holding Gabriella in his lap. They were sitting in his desk chair, forehead to forehead, whispering to each other." Lucille remembered. "They weren't doing anything wrong or inappropriate…still, I just got the feeling that I was watching something almost intimate going on between them. I didn't say anything but I went back in the kitchen and pulled a couple of pans out of the cabinet to make some noise."

Maria lifted her chin and could see the affection in Lucille's face for what she had witnessed. That look described the reason that Maria hadn't overreacted to Gabriella's concerns that morning. The two teens were obviously in love and had a much deeper connection than most could understand.

"Did the kitchen noises bring them out again?" Maria wondered.

"Not immediately, but it did get a response from Troy. He asked if I was ok." Lucille chuckled under her breath, "In return I invited Gabriella to stay for dinner. Within five minutes she was in the kitchen asking if she could help cook."

Maria smiled at the description of her daughter's consideration. "She is quite good at helping out." Maria complimented.

Lucille nodded approvingly. "She's had a good influence on Troy. Although on that particular evening I'm not sure exactly what kind of homework they were doing…or if I really want to know."

Maria let out a sigh at that comment. "Well, on that note, that's part of why I asked you over."

This time Lucille lowered her fork and watched Maria for any indications of the subject matter.

"Briella came into my room this morning at a little after five. She was upset, worried, scared…I wasn't sure what was going on and literally had to pull an explanation out of her."

Now Lucille completely put her fork on the table, a worried look crossing her face as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'm listening."

"It seems," Maria began as gently as she could, "that the two of them have moved forward – a bit – in their physical relationship." She watched as Lucille's eyebrows raised and the other woman sucked in a breath.

Lucille nodded slowly as Maria kept going. "Briella _thought_ she was pregnant."

At the simple sentence Lucille's eyes widened fully and her mouth dropped open nearly choking on the breath that she was struggling to take. "Troy knows better." She muttered quietly as she watched Maria's calm features.

"Is my son still alive after his visit this morning?" Lucille asked as she carefully placed her fork on her plate and raised her napkin to wipe her mouth. She noted that Maria's voice wasn't harsh and her facial expressions were actually, somewhat amused.

Maria chuckled at Lucille's near-frantic look. "He is still quite alive. At least he was when the two of them climbed into the truck to go to school."

Lucille nodded her head and the two women looked at each other silently for a moment. Even with Maria's easiness on this topic Lucille was having a bit of a hard time imagining either of their children having the courage to 'go all the way' at this stage of their relationship.

"You said they've moved forward 'a bit' physically." Lucille began. She picked up her fork again to now pick at the lettuce on her plate. "If they've reached a point where pregnancy is possible then I'm really, really behind."

Maria noted the paled expression on Lucille's face. This lunch certainly had not been meant to scare or intimidate Troy's mother. So Maria reached across the table and placed a relaxed hand over Lucille's.

"Luce, let me continue. I know this is as much of a shock to you as it was to me. Well, maybe not quite as much. But let me just say that we both know our children very well. And I think they care so much about each other that they are willing to think, and rethink, their choices and decisions about getting physical together."

Lucille listened carefully to Maria's words and relaxed a bit as she thought about the way Troy and Gabriella treated each other. "I can't help but notice that you are less than upset about Gabriella possibly being pregnant." Lucille's confusion was still dominating her mind.

Maria smiled. "Briella basically held confession with me this morning. She came into my room, scared and actually, sick to her stomach I think. She told me that a few weekends ago she and Troy made a little detour over to the school after being out with Chad and Taylor."

Lucille listened as Maria began to recount the story that Gabriella had told her that morning.

"Their 'fooling around' apparently involved touching each other and finding ways to…well…to _pleasure_ each other." Maria noted with a bit of a blush.

Lucille's eyes widened. "Ok?" she managed to add to the conversation. She then shook her head. "This seems a little too personal…I'm not sure…" she watched as Maria smiled softly and held up her hand.

"That was the point where I asked Brie if she was pregnant. Her answer was 'I don't _think_ so.'" Maria shared.

Lucille nodded again.

"I then asked her if she and Troy had had sex that afternoon." Maria forged on.

Lucille drew in a breath. "And?"

"And she answered by telling me to _'Define sex.'"_ Maria used her fingers to put quotes around Gabriella's words.

Lucille twisted her head as she looked at Maria with more confusion. "She's an honor student in all categories."

"I know." Maria raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "So I then ask her if she and Troy had intercourse."

Lucille pressed her lips together and watched Maria shake her head.

"She then asked me to _'Define intercourse.'_" Maria again put the words in quotes.

Now Lucille held up her hand. "Are you serious?"

Maria nodded strongly.

"Then what?" Lucille motioned for her friend to continue.

"So I'm not sure if I was channeling my dead husband or what. But I asked her, my beautiful, honor-student, daughter…and please pardon me if this sounds crude…I asked her if Troy's penis had been in or near her vagina at any point."

Lucille swallowed roughly and sat staring at Maria's face. "What was her answer?" she wasn't sure that she wanted to know until Maria rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"The answer was 'no'." she supplied, allowing Lucille to release the breath that she was holding.

"Ok." Troy's mother sighed.

"Wait. I haven't reached the best part yet." Maria smiled.

"There's more?" Lucille sat back in her chair with tea in hand, now a bit more prepared to hear Maria's words.

"I swear to you I wasn't trying to pry. If they are meant to have a sex life together…I just need to make sure that Gabriella is ok. I want them both to be ok, mind you, but right now she is my everything. She's my baby."

Lucille nodded slowly.

"Brie still seemed scared and upset, even after the various definitions. So I pressed her to tell me more about their time together. It seems…" Maria took a moment to try and find the right words to use. "Well, on that particular afternoon Troy eased Brie's tensions _manually_, and Brie reciprocated." Maria simply held up her hand and wiggled her fingers to supply a visual aid.

Maria then picked up her fork and looked back down at her plate. "If I'm understanding correctly from my brilliant daughter, she was never completely naked…and Troy's belt wasn't even touched until Brie was, well, finished, shall we say."

Now Lucille smirked just a hair. "They were never undressed, together?"

Maria shook her head matching Lucille's gaze.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to get this straight in my head. They touched, they explored, they…but they were never even naked together? And, please don't take this the wrong way, but Gabriella still thought she might be pregnant?" Lucille was beginning to comprehend Maria's need to talk this through and still see the humor in the story.

Maria simply nodded. She had had a few hours to replay the entire conversation over in her head. Now, over the past half hour she had relayed the information to another parental unit who had a valid interest in the situation. With Lucille's features stretching, finally, into a slight smile, Maria felt better.

Lucille took a few more bites of her salad, as did Maria. The women shared just a few more words about the morning conversation. Maria told Lucille that she had purchased a pregnancy test just to reassure Gabriella that she was not pregnant now. And she asked for Lucille's input for a gynecologist in Albuquerque that would be discreet and yet trustworthy. There was no need for anyone else to even suspect that East High's top honor student was on birth control. Nor, did they need to know why.

As the clock neared three p.m. the women moved their conversation into the living room. With the most serious part of their chat out of the way and behind them, they simply moved onto learning more about each other. Maria gladly pulled out a few photo albums to share some of her cherished memories with Lucille.

They turned the pages of one album that pictured Gabriella in elementary school. She and several other children were holding puppets and putting on a show in what appeared to be someone's living room. Maria put a finger on the picture and then laughed out loud.

Lucille looked at her with humor-filled eyes, expecting an enjoyable story. Instead Maria licked her lips and scratched her chin. "I just had another thought about my talk with Briella."

Troy's mother watched as Maria snickered to herself. "Luce, if by some miracle Gabriella _is_ pregnant right now…you and I will be grandmothers to a beautiful, bouncing, baby…finger puppet."

The laugh that was released from Lucille's chest set the mood completely for an inside joke between the two women. It helped solidify something they had known for a while. The two women needed to find their own bond because their two children seemed determined to bring their families together.

**TGTGTG**

Before they knew it the sound of an old, barely-running, pickup truck pulled into the driveway. Maria and Lucille each smiled realizing that the young couple, who was now not just a source of parental stress, but also a bit of comic relief, was home from school.

"Oh my, it's after five. I didn't even think about the kids getting home." Lucille quickly closed the photo album she was perusing and began looking around the room nervously.

"Well, your car is in the driveway. I'm sure Troy's already recognized it. They'll know something is up. Not to mention the fact that I'm usually not home until six or seven…Briella's going to know." She calmed Troy's mom with a touch of her hand on her arm. "They're both smart. They're going to know."

Lucille smiled one more widened grin. "I guess this means we have to keep the finger puppet comments to ourselves." She and Maria leaned their shoulders together for a quick giggle just as the front door of the house opened to their children, both with worried looks on their faces.

"Mom?" Both Troy and Gabriella asked quietly as they looked inside to see Maria and Lucille on the couch together.

"Hi There." Lucille answered first, followed by a quick "Hi Kids." From Maria. Both of their mothers were smiling. Troy and Gabriella looked at each other stepping just inside the door.

Troy whispered toward Gabriella, "This is either a good sign…or a bad one, a very, very bad one."

Lucille shook her head at her son and raised a single eyebrow at him. "Let's say it's a good sign, _this time._" She added with a twitch of her lips. "Maria," Lucille pointed at the kids. "This means that Jack will be home and looking for dinner soon so I'd better go."

Maria pouted just a bit. "I should've just planned to have you all over for dinner tonight. Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Mom!" Gabriella interrupted with a slight look of fear on her face. "Why are you home?" she lowered her voice slightly but continued to shift her eyes between Troy's mom and Maria.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Maria stepped into the bathroom and pulled out a small paper bag. She handed it to Gabriella and watched her daughter's eyes widen, her pink lips purse together and all three women looked at Troy. Gabriella and Troy both blushed noticeably.

"It's ok." Maria put her hand on Gabriella's cheek and then one on Troy's shoulder. "Go." She nodded toward the staircase.

Lucille waited until her son and his girlfriend were about halfway up the steps before speaking again. "Troy, I assume we'll see you at home for dinner in about an hour?"

Troy looked down at his mother with his first real touch of understanding and realization. "Yes Ma'am." He answered and then turned back to follow Gabriella up to her room.

"Well I didn't want to scare either of them but I didn't think that you'd be here all afternoon. I'm glad you were." Maria commented as the two women headed toward the front door.

"Was that…what I think it was?" Lucille glanced up the stairway as she referenced the paper bag.

Maria nodded. "It was. And you're going to think that I was very forward with something else that's in there."

Lucille put a hand on the doorknob but looked at her friend with a curious gaze.

"I don't want to encourage them. But I want them to be cautious. This is a road I haven't traveled since I was their age. I also put a box of condoms in with the pregnancy test." Maria looked shyly at the floor.

Lucille gave just a slight gasp at Maria's thoughts. "Do you think Gabriella will take the test with Troy here?"

Maria nodded again. "I do. As long as she took my advice and talked to him about this, then yes, I do."

Lucille rolled her eyes thoughtfully. "I still can't believe my son is even old enough to be thinking about…_sex_." She practically whispered the last word. "I've got to get home and figure out exactly how to tell Jack about this." She paused, "Jack…the other testosterone factor in this equation." Lucille smiled at Maria who smiled back equally as humored by the idea of Troy's father being informed of this phase of his son's relationship.

Maria held up her hand and wiggled her fingers just once more as Lucille headed out the door. "When the talk gets too serious, just remember, 'finger puppets'." The Latino woman suggested.

Lucille simply laughed as she got into the car and rolled her window down. "Shall I knit the booties or a blanket?" The two women grinned at each other.

"Let's each do both." Maria played along. "I'll let you know what color we'll need as soon as I find out."

**3TGTGTGTGTG3**


	19. Finger Puppets Part 4

**As usual, I own nothing of HSM other than five tubs full of trinkets and mementos. I do believe my muse, which I've named Becca Beth btw, has taken off to Hawaii with three brunette women by the last name of Hudgens (well, I believe one may have the last name Efron, but that's beside the point for now). ANYWAY, if anyone happens to run into Becca Beth while she's frolicking in the Pacific or at the new Edition hotel, would you please remind her that she is needed back in Kentucky...and that she should return to me with some good story scenarios!**

**Hope you'll read and enjoy. Please don't hesitate to review, pm or e-mail me. You always feed my Zanessa addiction and fuel my obsession...and I love it!**

**And as always, be sure to KTZLF! -adc :)  
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"You can't watch me pee, Troy." The line brought a nervous grin to Gabriella's face.

Troy looked at her sheepishly and returned to the spot on her bed where his thighs had already made an indentation from the sitting and gripping that had been done when the young couple entered Gabriella's bedroom.

He sat, breathing slowly and letting different thoughts roll through his mind.

**TGTGTG**

When they had walked through the door of that bedroom both had immediately sat down on her bed. They stared at the brown paper bag that Maria had handed Gabriella when she and Troy headed up the steps away from the invasive eyes of their mothers.

The first thing Troy noticed was his girlfriend's shaking hands.

"Hey now…" he started and moved one of his gentle hands over on top of hers. "We know what's in there," he motioned his head toward the bag. "And, we _know_ the answer to the test you're gonna take. You're only taking it to ease your mind. Right?"

Gabriella glanced sideways at Troy's eyes that were looking at her and then let her gaze drift down to their hands. She nodded her head slowly.

"I…I don't know why I'm nervous. I'm not, I mean, but I don't know. I guess it's just nerves taking over." She took a quick deep breath and opened the bag.

Troy leaned against her trying to look in as well. He caught sight of two boxes in the bag and pulled back slowly, his eyebrows creasing together.

Gabriella let her breath out along with a single shaking laugh. She pulled out the box labeled 'Trojan' and handed it to Troy. "I'm guessing those are for you?" she looked at Troy's fingers as they grasped the thin cardboard.

He licked his lips as he thought before actually taking the box from her grasp. He shrugged his shoulders and then raised his line of sight to Gabriella's face and answered her in honesty. "Not necessarily."

Gabriella watched him with confused eyes as he flipped the box around in his hands.

"I'd like to think they're for _us_." He emphasized quietly. "Not that either of us plan to _need_ these anytime soon. I'm not going to pressure you Gabriella. I've told you that. If this…" he reached into the bag and pulled out the other box labeled with the letters 'E.P.T.', "has scared you, then we can just go back to holding hands and stealing kisses."

Troy let the box of condoms rest on his legs and pulled Gabriella's free hand onto his thigh, holding it with both of his hands. He looked down at their fingers as he laced them together and held her delicate fingers firmly.

"What we have Gabriella…I know…I _know_ the physical part will be amazing, _whenever_ it happens. But what we have right now, our friendship, our _relationship_…I just want us," he moved their hands between the spot on his chest that covered his heart to the same area on hers, "together. Ok?"

Troy felt Gabriella squeeze his hand even tighter as she lifted her head, leaned toward him and brushed a kiss onto his cheek. She lifted their joined hands and kissed each one of his knuckles before looking into his eyes.

"As long as we're together." She pressed her thigh against his and brought their hands down onto her knee.

When she released her grip she made a point to wordlessly tell Troy to maintain contact. As his hand gently caressed her covered upper leg she then turned her attention back to the contents of the bag.

She pulled the remaining box out and flipped it to the back to read the directions that were printed there. Troy moved his hand, but only to wrap around her waist to pull her closer as they both looked at a box they had never dreamed of investigating at their young ages.

Gabriella caught herself leaning against Troy's chest as she fumbled with the box, debating whether or not to open it. She was comforted by his arm around her and by his words that assured her even more.

She sucked in a deep breath and let her head nuzzle against the skin of his neck, feeling his adam's apple shift against her when he swallowed a nervous gulp.

"You'll stay while I take this, right? You're not going anywhere?" she asked without attempting to look at her boyfriend.

Troy shook his head. "I'll be right by your side. I'm not going anywhere." He kept his hold on her for another moment. "Although…Maria's here…do you think she's making brownies? I could go help her…"

Gabriella sat up quickly and looked at him with a gentle smile on her face. "Good to know that you're that fond of Mom's brownies. Next time you feel like getting _physical_ I'll just keep a recipe card in my bag and you can have your _way_ with it." She joked lightly.

"Well, that would be less awkward than having these in your purse…" he held up the unopened box of condoms.

"Troy!" Gabriella's eyes twinkled at his joke. She tried to pull out of his hold to no avail. Instead the two smiling teens leaned toward each other to share a soft kiss.

"There is no way…no matter how good those brownies are…" Troy kept his forehead against Gabriella's as he watched her eyes follow his.

The twosome sat connected at the forehead for a few minutes without a word being spoken. Their smiles faded to simple content looks as they shared a few more kisses and merely enjoyed being together.

Gabriella looked back at the box in her hand. "I need to do this." She used her index finger to tap on the front of the box.

Troy stood up from the bed and offered her his hand. He ushered her through the bedroom door and kept a hand on the small of her back as they walked the short distance down the hallway to the bathroom.

Gabriella unlatched the closed door and stepped inside. She was a bit surprised when her boyfriend took a few more steps and followed her in. Her face turned a bit pink when she realized his intentions.

"You do know what's required for me to get the results here, right?" she asked with a quirk of her lips.

Troy nodded at her. He placed a hand on the edge of the sink and gripped slightly. He had told her he wouldn't go anywhere, that he would be right by her side. He was well aware of what she had to do. The phrase "pee on a stick" wasn't foreign to his vocabulary. He only hoped the sight of his girlfriend's nakedness wouldn't _test_ him…not this time.

"You can't watch me pee Troy." Her words offered a bit of relief.

"That's not…I mean…I don't _want_ to. I just said I wouldn't go anywhere." He mumbled his explanation.

Gabriella sat the pregnancy test on the back of the commode and walked back toward her boyfriend. She took both of his hands in hers and just smiled at him. "I love you Wildcat." She leaned forward and left a quick kiss on his lips. "And I think we'll both be more comfortable if you just wait in my room. Like you said, we know how this test is gonna turn out, right?"

Troy grinned at her. He cocked his head, directing her attention down the hall toward the bedroom. "I'll just be waiting down the hall. Yell if you need me."

"Count on it." Gabriella bantered as she pushed him backwards out of the door.

"Hey Brie?" Troy caught her attention just before she could completely shut the door.

"Hmmm?" she looked up into his face through the inch-wide crack with her lips pursed together.

"I love you too." His words brought a smile to her face and a familiar tug inside of her. Still she just pointed him toward the bedroom to wait and then closed and locked the door behind him.

**TGTGTG**

Lucille made it into the house with just enough time to put a pot of water on the stove before Jack made his way in from the garage. He wandered through the kitchen placing a kiss on his wife's cheek as he passed her rummaging through the cabinet for a box of pasta.

"How was school?" Lucille asked him with a smile before he could make it through the door into the living room.

"Interesting." Was his one word answer as he loosened the tie around his neck and unbuttoned the collar of his dress shirt.

When he returned to the kitchen in his t-shirt and shorts Lucille was in the process of chopping lettuce to go in their salads.

"Troy coming home for dinner tonight?" Jack asked as he grabbed a stalk of celery and began nibbling. He headed toward the sink to wash his hands and join in on the meal preparations.

"Yeah." Lucille looked at the clock on the wall. "I saw him at Maria and Gabriella's about a half hour ago. He should be home in the next hour, why?"

Jack raised his eyebrows while drying his hands on a tea towel. "Oh, that's right. You had lunch with Maria. How'd that go?"

Lucille stole Jack's own word as she smiled sneakily, her head pointed toward the counter while she continued chopping. "Interesting." She stated.

"Mmm-hmmm." Jack stepped closer to his wife and reached around to grab a knife from the holder then pulled the batch of celery toward him. "So we've both had interesting days. Who should share first?"

"Why don't you go first." Lucille instructed. She looked up and met her husband's eyes. "I have a feeling that the contents of my interesting day just might fill in some of the blanks from your interesting day."

"Hmmm, like answering why our son was following his girlfriend around as though she needed protection every time I saw them? Or perhaps why he suggested I let Gabriella sit out of gym class just one more day…and yet she assured me that she was feeling much better and wanted to participate today? And then they had a quiet argument over whether or not she should be doing the sit-ups and push-ups that were simply warm up exercises?" Jack stopped his cutting for a moment as he watched the grin on Lucille's face. "Has she actually been sick, or is she playing Troy…and me?" he questioned.

Lucille looked at her husband's face directly and dropped the grin. "Oh, I have no doubt that she's actually been feeling sick. But I'm relatively sure it's more of a psychological thing than an actual physical illness."

"Care to elaborate on that?" he went back to the celery and intently cut the wide stalks into narrower bite sized pieces. He popped a few chunks of the vegetable into his mouth as he waited for an answer.

"Did you get a chance to ask either one of them about her _illness_?" Lucille began to pull the bowls from the cabinet and then went to the refrigerator to grab carrots and tomatoes.

"Well, I caught Troy this morning and asked if she was feeling better. He said he thought she was. Then I saw them around lunch time. Gabriella seemed fine but Troy was practically…what's the word…doting on her? I thought that was a little odd. She seemed perfectly capable of carrying her own lunch tray. Then there was the weird stuff in the gym. He just seemed to be treating her, I don't know, like she was fragile."

Lucille smiled again softly as she thought about her conversation with Maria. She figured Gabriella had likely told Troy the cause of her ill feelings on the way to school. And although he knew the truth, their son was probably just working through the various thoughts that had started pouncing through his mind.

The couple was silent for a few minutes as Lucille thought about the words she wanted to use to share this story with Jack. The 'finger puppet' joke would probably go right over his head. And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she probably didn't want to share all of those 'intimate' details with Troy's father. That would be left up to Troy – if Jack let him live long enough to make his own choice.

"Luce?" Jack noticed his wife's quietness. "Is there something…I…need…to…know?" he began to draw his words out as his mind finally began to wander. The puzzle pieces that he had witnessed and heard weren't completely foreign to the p.e./health teacher.

When he stopped talking Lucille looked up to see a touch of worry in his gray'ish blue eyes that were now as wide as saucers.

"Jack, wait…before your mind gets too far…let me tell you about lunch with Maria." Lucille reached out to put a hand on Jack's forearm just as he brought the knife down onto the celery more harshly than he had before.

"Jack." She squeezed his arm.

"Please God," he looked up from the chopping board with an almost devastated look on his face, "tell me she is _not_ pregnant."

Lucille recognized his look. With thoughts of both Troy and Gabriella's futures going through his mind, it was a look of disappointment. It was a look of frustration, fear and anger, all mixed into one.

"No, no Sweetheart, she's not. But that's part of what my lunch with Maria was about." She moved closer to her husband and wrapped one arm around his waist while she gently slid her hand down onto his to remove the knife from his grasp.

"Come, sit a minute. I honestly think you'll find this kind of amusing…just a little reminder that our teenagers are still just kids." Lucille took Jack's hand and directed him toward the dining room table.

He looked at her skeptically but noticed that her face was relaxed and loving. That was enough to tell him that the situation was ok, and gave his mind the distraction it needed to actually listen to what she was about to say.

**TGTGTG**

"Briella? Is everything ok up there?" Maria called up the steps.

"Mmm-hmm, fine Mom." Gabriella yelled from the bathroom before carefully setting the test stick on the counter by the sink. "Five minutes." She sighed to herself.

She licked her lips and took another breath before opening the door and heading back toward her bedroom. Troy was still sitting on her bed but he had moved to the opposite side and was staring out the window.

Gabriella rounded the foot of the bed quietly and made her way to stand beside him. She placed a soft hand against his shoulder and smiled when he turned his head to look up at her.

"Why does this feel so weird?" she wondered out loud.

Troy scooted toward her pillows making room for her to sit down beside him. Gabriella noticed immediately that he made no move to pull her into his lap, but wrapped a cautious arm around her waist.

She laid her head over on his shoulder and stared with him out at the balcony. When Troy ran a hand over her belly they both froze for just a second.

"You're thinking about me actually being pregnant aren't you?" she placed her own hand over top of his and rubbed the tip of her index finger over his knuckles. "We know the test is gonna be negative Troy. There is no chance…other than immaculate conception…that I am pregnant."

"And yet we're both sitting here wondering what it would be like if you were, aren't we?" Troy supplied.

"There is this teeny, tiny part of me that wonders what it would be like to walk back in that bathroom and see a positive sign on the test stick." Gabriella admitted.

"But?" Troy asked gently, pulling her closer to him while Gabriella wrapped her arms around him.

"But then the other 99 point 9-9 percent of me reminds me that I haven't even graduated from high school yet. I've got a college future ahead of me and a lot of things that I would like to do before I have a child of my own." Gabriella squeezed her arms tighter around him.

"Of _our_ own maybe?" Troy responded earning him a gentle nudge from her face burying into his chest.

"I hope." Gabriella answered in a small quiet voice.

They sat silently on her bed for another minute waiting for the moment of truth to come along.

"Troy? I really do love you. I don't doubt that at all. I know it in my head and I know it in my heart." She couldn't find a way to get closer to him in that moment. She tried her best with her arms and hands attached to him and her nose pressed warmly into the crook of his neck.

"But even the thought of having a baby…it's enough to make you rethink how close we've become? Or at least how close we've come to…" Troy thought out loud.

"How close we've come to getting even closer. How being _that_ close could change everything that we have right now…everything that we want in our futures…everything about _us._" Gabriella finished their matching ideas.

Gabriella nervously pushed her body against Troy's, finally getting what she wanted when he tugged on her waist and pulled her into his lap. She nestled her head under his chin and grasped hold of his t-shirt before she said anything else. Troy rocked her gently while the most mature thoughts of reality continued to move through their minds.

She chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about what she wanted to tell him. With a hint of fear running through her she still needed to put words to it and let Troy know.

"After…_this…_" Gabriella began timidly but the room was quiet enough that Troy had no trouble hearing or understanding her. "I…I don't think I'm ready…to, um, to actually…have sex."

Troy felt her cringe. She had told him she loved him. They had shared an intimate experiment and experience that wowed both of them. In the aftermath of that experience both had been sure that they wanted to repeat the actions, soon.

Now though, in that moment, with the fear and uncertainty that came with their actions Troy felt a sense of responsibility surrounding him. The young woman curled in his arms was worried about her future. But more than that, she was worried about their future.

An image of his father came into Troy's mind. It made him pull in a long, deep breath. It made him hold her tighter and he bent down to press a reassuring kiss against her head. He felt a sense of strength come over him as he, in turn, thought about what he wanted to tell her.

"I'm not going anywhere Gabriella. I know I told you that this morning. And I meant it. I'm certainly not going to dump you because we haven't had sex. That is not what we're about. Do you believe that?"

He waited until he felt her nod against his chest and her lips turned upwards to place a kiss against the skin of his neck.

"_When_ we have sex…scratch that…when we _make love_…it'll be when we both want it, when our hearts tell us it's right and when we know in our hearts and minds that it's meant to happen. That's why it hasn't happened yet. I love you too. Honestly, physically, sometimes I want you so bad it hurts. But I think today I've realized how much responsibility goes along with making love. Today I _have_ thought about you being pregnant and it scared me and excited me all at the same time, you know? I mean we're too young. You're right, we've got a _lot_ of things that we need to do before we think about marriage and kids and stuff. But Gabriella…the idea of a little, bitty me and you growing inside of you… wow."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile as she listened to him. This whole ordeal, as innocent as it was, had been an eye opener for both of them. She had been scared that her new-found uncertainty about _making love_ with him would push him away. Instead, it seemed to be making them closer.

The sound of the timer ringing in the bathroom made her sit up on his lap. Their eyes met on the same level, just inches away from each other. The blue and brown colors flashed back and forth as both stared at each other.

Gabriella moved first, closing her eyes and pressing her lips against Troy's. The kiss only lasted an all-too-short moment. No tongues clashed, no hands moved. The two shared a kiss like one of the first they had ever experienced together.

When Gabriella pulled herself from their embrace she slid off his lap and took Troy's hand, pulling him up from the bed. "Have you ever heard your parents say that they've fallen even more in love with each other?" she asked as she held one of his hands between both of hers.

"Yeah…but I usually try to ignore them at that point." He smiled as he again looked into her eyes and lost himself in the pools of gleaming brown.

"Well I think I understand that a little more today. Cause I think, in just the last five minutes, that I've found a way to love you even more."

Troy gazed at her face for another minute, enjoying the look of relief that seemed to be present. Still he had to ask, "Do you want to go take a look?"

When she shook her head he understood completely. "It really doesn't matter now does it?" he continued his line of questioning.

Gabriella pulled him to his feet and wrapped her arm around his waist, snuggling against his chest once again. "No. Today it doesn't. And I know now…that when it does matter, we'll take a look together, right?"

Troy pressed his lips into her hair, holding the kiss out against her head while each of them stroked soothing lines up and down the other's back.

"Yeah." He finally found his voice to respond. "You and me, together."

**TGTGTG**

Maria watched the young couple as they came down the stairs and moved into the living room. She watched them both very closely as they stayed in constant contact with each other. Their smiles, quiet whispers to each other and quick, tickling kisses told her for sure that everything was alright.

She was a bit surprised when the two informed her that they were going to go over to Troy's house for just a little while. Gabriella would be back in time for dinner…but they both felt they needed to talk to Luce and the Coach about their situation.

"You're a very smart woman." Troy told Maria as he stepped toward her.

Maria looked at him scrunching her eyebrows inward trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"You knew…after talking to your daughter, you knew she wasn't pregnant. But you also knew that taking a pregnancy test would make both of us think about the future. You knew that, didn't you?"

That hadn't been her intent in the least, not at first. But within the last hour, the thought had crossed her mind. Maria knew what Troy and Gabriella were doing during that time. She knew they had opened that simple paper bag together. She knew her daughter had taken the test. And she knew that the two of them had talked…seriously talked…about the potential consequences of their actions.

She placed a still-nervous hand on Troy's cheek as he stood in front of her, Gabriella watching both of them. "Love makes you think about things in a whole new perspective, doesn't it?"

Troy nodded approvingly and accepted a hug from Gabriella's mom. "Thanks Maria." He returned her smile.

Maria watched them walk out the door and saw the truck back out of the driveway. With the expected backfiring sounding from the muffler she made her way up the steps and into the bathroom.

At first glance she didn't see what she was looking for, her focus going directly to the trash can beside the toilet. But then she spotted the pregnancy test in the most obvious place…still sitting on the counter by the sink, untouched since Gabriella had placed it with her nervous hands, to wait for the results.

She picked up the device and looked at the minus sign in the small window. No, her baby wasn't pregnant. Not yet at least. And she knew that a pair of teenagers had figured out something that afternoon.

The sign on that little stick didn't matter at the moment…they had known the answer going into it…that's why neither of them returned to the bathroom after the timer sounded. At that point in time, the only sign that mattered was the two of them together, and the power of their true love.

**TGTGTGTGTG

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**_Scenarios: Hawaii_ a book by adcgordon is available at authorhouse dot com; amazon dot com; and barnesandnoble dot com.  
Just search for adcgordon in the books/author sections to find out more.**

**Thank You & KTZLF! -adc  
**


	20. When It Rains It Pours ZA Angels Chal

**This chapter was written for the ZA Angels 02/12 Write-Off Challenge (Theme 1). This is the first time I've tried to take part in a challenge like this, so I hope I've lived up to the challenge! :)**

**This particular chapter would fit into the HSM3 storyline, perhaps, on the day after Troy and Gabriella shared the pizza picnic in her bedroom and she told him about the Honors Program, and leaving to go to Stanford. At least that's where I see this fitting in! I'd consider this one rated 'T' because of a bit of language.**

**With that said, hope you enjoy & KTZLF! :)**  
**-adc**

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**When It Rains, It Pours**

Gabriella drug herself into the kitchen at 6:00a.m. Maria watched her daughter closely and knew it had been a rough night for her. Normally her chipper, teenage daughter didn't wander through until 6:30 – and was usually on her cell phone by that point.

This morning Gabriella looked tired, worried and somewhat lost. The cellular phone was in her hand but had no sound coming from it and Gabriella was making no move to dial a number or speak to anyone who might have been on the other end of the line.

"What time did Troy leave last night?" Maria watched her daughter sit down at the kitchen table with a sad sigh just as a crack of thunder made them both jump.

Gabriella looked up at her mom with the look of a frightened little girl.

Maria quickly grabbed her coffee cup and sat it on the table then took a cup from the cabinet and heated up water in the microwave to give her daughter a cup of tea.

Gabriella put the phone on the table and looked at it, tapping just once to light up the screen and then sighed again. "What, Mom?"

Maria pulled out one of the chairs and rubbed a hand over her daughter's lengthy black, wavy hair before placing the hot cup of tea in front of her. "I asked what time Troy left last night?"

Gabriella's eyes widened slightly. "Um, how did…" The remainder of her question, '_how did you know he was here?_' remained unspoken when Maria gave her the knowing, motherly look.

"His truck apparently wouldn't start. It's still sitting in front of the house," Maria informed her daughter.

The young brown eyes shot toward the door of the kitchen. Gabriella fought the urge to jump up and run out to see if her boyfriend might have _slept_ in the old truck overnight. She turned toward the door but then turned back to her mother.

"He was only here an hour or so. He brought pizza. We had a picnic in my room," she finally answered her mother's question.

"Well that sounds like a nice surprise," Maria smiled and wondered what pieces of the puzzle weren't in front of her, yet.

"It was," Gabriella agreed, somewhat sadly. "But he had an ulterior motive."

Maria leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her coffee. Both women couldn't help but look toward the window of the back door as a bolt of lightning flashed, thunder cracked again and a sheet of rain joined the pounding sounds.

Gabriella again turned her head toward the opposite, inside door. "Mom, I'll be right back," she shook her head. "If Troy's truck is still out front…he may have slept there last night." She watched her mother's eyebrows raise and her head tilted with curiosity. "And even if he didn't, the passenger side window never goes up all the way. I need to make sure…"

Maria peeked again toward the back door. "You're going out in this? Call him. I'm sure he's just overslept – _at home_ – or Jack has him practicing or something. Has he not called this morning?"

Gabriella shook her head and stood up to move out the door.

"Gabriella!" Maria followed her into the living room. "Seriously, Sweetheart, it's storming out there. You can't _run out_ in this weather."

She noticed the tears glistening in Gabriella's chocolate eyes and knew there must have been more to Troy's impromptu picnic than she was being told. As Gabriella pulled open the front door Maria quickened her steps and opened up the coat closet. "At least put your raincoat on," she ordered.

Gabriella nodded and smiled at her mother, "Thanks, Mom."

**TGTGTGTG**

Maria watched from the door as Gabriella ran off the porch and down the sidewalk to the beat-up old truck that sat on the street. She peered quickly through the passenger window and then opened the door and gave the window an extra crank to make sure the rain wouldn't seep in.

When she noticed the key ring sitting on the dashboard she climbed into the truck and grabbed the jingling set. _Troy must not have felt like dealing with the fuel pump last night,_ she thought to herself as she put the keys in her pocket and then made the drenching run back to the door.

Maria opened the storm door for her and stood aside as Gabriella came back inside and slid the coat off her arms, water dripping from every uncovered inch. She pulled Troy's keys from her pocket and looked at her mother. "She must not have started, and he didn't feel like fooling with the fuel pump when he left. I guess he just walked home," her puckering lips and wet face looked up into Maria's.

Even with the sopping wet clothing Maria took her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly. "Do we need to talk before I head to work? How are you getting to school this morning?"

She felt Gabriella nod against her neck and then felt her shoulders shrug. Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky before the sound of an incoming text message rang out from Gabriella's phone.

The young woman wiped her face with her hands and then went back into the kitchen to retrieve her phone and a drink of the tea that was still sitting on the table. Maria followed on her heels and stood by the side of the table while Gabriella looked at her phone.

"He's getting a ride from Coach this morning. Wonders if I'd mind riding the bus," she read the words on her screen and looked up at Maria.

"Honey, what happened last night? It's obvious you're upset and I _know_ if you haven't talked to Troy this morning then he's upset, too. What's going on?" Maria questioned.

Gabriella slouched into the wooden chair at the table. She looked out aimlessly at the rain hitting the kitchen window and thought about watching her boyfriend climb down the tree in the backyard, leaving his picnic basket and their conversation behind the previous night.

"He found out about my early admittance program at Stanford," she revealed to her mother, finally meeting Maria's eyes on the subject.

"Found out?" Maria shook her head. "I don't understand. I thought you guys had talked about this a while back, when you got your acceptance letter. You've known for a while about potentially leaving East High early…" her words drifted off when Gabriella's eyes drifted in another direction.

"Gabriella?" Maria's eyes creased together in a sudden near-panic. "Didn't _you_ tell Troy about the Honors Program? Didn't _you _tell him that you might leave early? Gabriella," she watched her daughter simply stare down at the table in front of them without answering.

Maria's breaths came rapidly. She wasn't sure whether she should feel angry, upset or confused. Whatever the case she suddenly felt sorry for the young man who had fallen in love with her daughter. "Mija, please tell me you haven't strung Troy along on this subject. You're supposed to leave next week – we _are_ leaving next Thursday to drive to California to get you settled in."

The burst of thunder that came next apparently broke the cloud of tears that Gabriella was trying to hold in. The droplets filled her eyes and then quickly escaped and seeped down her cheeks.

"How was I supposed to tell him, Mama? I promised him I would be here till graduation. I don't want to leave Troy, or East High. _I don't want_ to leave here. I'm finally home here. I don't want to leave," she cried as Maria debated between crossing her arms, wrapping Gabriella in her arms and what on earth she could do to possibly help Troy on this morning after.

**TGTGTG**

"Damn it!" Troy slammed the pantry door closed in the early morning hour catching the attention of both his parents – as though he hadn't had it before.

"_Troy_! Watch your language, young man! What is up with you?" His mother raised her voice from across the kitchen where she was attempting to fix his breakfast.

"_I'm Sorry!"_ Troy huffed, not really meaning his apology and both parents knew it.

"What time did you get back here last night?" His father questioned, expecting another grumped answer.

"I don't know," Troy's voice softened. "I had dinner with Gabriella and then came home," he purposefully skipped over the various, important, points of the evening that had caused his round of cursing and stomping this morning.

He looked at his father, "Can I bum a ride to school with you, please?" he asked more politely than expected.

Jack glanced away from the sports page and watched his son take the plate of eggs from his mother. "Fuel pump finally give up the ghost?" He felt for his son. He knew Troy was dependent on the old truck for his independence, but that wasn't a reason that Jack and Lucille would give up the funding to replace the much needed part.

"Not exactly," Troy mumbled. "It wouldn't start at Gabriella's so I just walked home," he explained.

"Troy Alexander, that was ten o'clock last night, why didn't you call us to come and get you?" Lucille stopped what she was doing to listen for her son's answer.

"It was fine, Mom. We only live a couple of miles away. I've walked it a hundred times after dark," Troy mentally chastised himself with a roll of his eyes for letting the last sentence slip.

"Excuse me?" Lucille's eyes grew as she turned her focus toward Jack to see if he had also caught that piece of information.

"Look," Troy put up his hands in surrender, "I just needed some time to think after I left her house last night. The walk was good. I needed it."

He turned his gaze to the food on his plate and roughly swallowed the next few bites without chewing. "So, can I get a ride, Dad?"

"Yeah, I guess," Jack shrugged his shoulders and went back to reading. Troy's mother picked up on his change of attitude. His senioritis was gone, he was up early, asking Jack for a ride. There was no real mention of last night's events; yes he mentioned being with his girlfriend, but still there was something different.

Lucille watched her son inhale the last few bites of his food and then take his plate to the kitchen sink. Once again he opened the pantry door and stood there for a minute just staring. _"Damn it,"_ he whispered this time and Lucille let it go. The pantry doors slammed and Troy walked out of the room without another word.

"Jack," she thought for a moment as she tried to get her husband's attention. "Jack!" She tried a bit more forcefully.

The common "Hmmm?" came from his lips until she took her hand and pushed the newspaper away from his face. "Wha-at?" He whined quietly.

"Something's up with Troy. Do you want to talk to him about it, or should I?" she asked directly.

The loud burst of thunder rattled the windows of the house making Lucille jump .

Jack shook his head at his wife's antics. "His fuel pump's dead, the truck won't work and he has to rely on me for a ride. He's a seventeen-year-old boy, Luce. All he's worried about right now is the truck and his girl. What's there to talk about?"

Lucille snapped her fingers and blinked her eyes. "That's what's wrong," she pronounced. "He's not on the phone with Gabriella. He even left his phone lying on the counter. That's not the usual morning routine for him."

Jack didn't say a word, watching his wife for another second before rattling the paper and going back to the article that she had so rudely interrupted. He read two more lines before the rain beat against the window, barely covering the sound of his wife's yelling voice.

"Troy?" She yelled up the stairs.

"What?" he responded testily.

"How is Gabriella getting to school? If your truck's at her house…do you and Jack need to run by and get her too? Maria leaves for work before she needs to leave for school. You can't just leave her stranded, not in this weather." Lucille waited at the bottom of the stairs and listened closely for the tone in her son's voice.

His answer was plain and simple and, she noted, a bit cold, "She can catch the bus, Mom, it's not a big deal."

Lucille made a mental note to have her husband find out what was going on and to get in touch with Gabriella's mom to see if Maria might shed any light on the stormy morning they were all experiencing.

**TGTGTG**

Lucille was out of the kitchen and in the process of getting dressed when Troy came back downstairs. She had warned Jack to be a little more observant and listen to whatever Troy might say on the way to school. It was '_mother's intuition'_ she called it, that told her something wasn't right between Troy and his girlfriend.

Jack looked at her while she spoke, listened to her and assured her that he would let her know if it was something important. That was why he put the paper down and finished his bowl of cereal and cup of coffee quietly when Troy came back in.

"You 'bout ready to go?" Jack asked him with a nod of his chin.

Troy nodded and looked around the room. "Yeah, I just need my phone. Hey, is there any chance we can run by Gabriella's so I can get my keys out of the truck? Figure I'll catch a ride back home with Chad or Zeke. We'll go back over and get the truck going but I don't wanna leave the keys in her all day."

Jack swallowed the last drink of his coffee too quickly and nearly choked. "You left your keys _in_ the truck last night? What's up with that? Troy, what's going on?"

Troy dropped his head to avoid his father's look. "Nobody wants my truck. I knew she was fine sitting on the street over there. Like I said I just needed to take a walk. I totally forgot about going back to get the keys till just now."

Jack stepped toward the counter and held up Troy's phone. As his son came closer to grab the device Jack held it back a second. "So why don't you just call Gabriella and have her bring the keys to you at school?" Jack suggested.

"I'm not sure what to say to her right now," Troy admitted with his eyes on the floor.

"Troy, what happened? I don't like the sound of that," Jack pressed the phone into Troy's hand.

"It's nothing like what you're thinking, Dad. It's just," he leaned his head back and sighed, "I thought she trusted me with important information and decisions she has to make… But yesterday I found out something _from Sharpay Evans, of all people,_ about Gabriella…"

He stalled and sighed again, not really wanting to share the evening's experience with his father but desperately needing to tell someone.

"Did she cheat on you?" Jack attempted to guess the problem Troy was dealing with. "Coming from Sharpay I'm not sure I would believe that story," he raised his eyebrows in thought.

"No, it's nothing like that," Troy countered. "But, well, it's about Gabriella going to Stanford early for this Honors Program thing…and she just…she never even mentioned it to me, Dad."

Jack stood back and crossed his arms loosely over his chest. His eyebrows furrowed down and his lips twisted slightly. "I'm still missing the point here, Troy. Stanford, the Honors Program, going to college early…that all sounds right up Gabriella's alley. What's the problem? Why wouldn't she tell you about it?"

"That's what I tried to talk to her about last night, Dad," Troy's voice filled with exasperation. "It's next week though. I mean, the decision's already made, she's leaving for Stanford next week," Troy shook his head, "but she's telling me that she wants to stay here, maybe she doesn't really want to go to Stanford, crazy stuff but I'm just finding out now.

Jack took in a deep breath of realization. "No shit," he whispered to himself more than Troy. "Next week? Are you serious, Son?"

Troy nodded and then coughed to cover his emotional response to Jack's surprised state. "No…shit."

Jack reached down and tugged slightly on the phone in Troy's hands. "Let's head out of here. You can tell me more on the way to school. At least let her know that you're coming by to get your keys, ok? Or that she'll need to ride the bus. Don't just drop out on her Troy. From what you're telling me I think she's probably confused and needs you more right now than you realize. Not telling you about this…she already thinks she's gonna lose you. If you just quit talking to her…well it's not gonna help either of you, you know?"

The two headed for the front door as Lucille came back down the steps. "You guys heading out? Be careful in the storm. Sounds like it's a mess out there," she warned them.

Troy looked at his father and then back at his mom. "I didn't even know it had started raining."

Lucille watched as her two men went out the door. Jack stepped back for just a second to place a kiss on his wife's lips. "Communication Luce," he said simply, "I'll talk to you during my free period ok?" He looked her in the eye and she nodded. "Love you." He stated plainly.

Lucille smiled at her husband. "Love you, too." She watched as the door closed. He was right. It was all about communication.

**TGTGTG**

The rain continued pouring as students poured into the school. What was predicted to be a morning shower turned into an all-out thunderstorm followed by off-and-on showers coupled with more thunderous sounds as the day drew on.

Jack had driven past the Montez house, watched Troy get drenched as he tried to retrieve his keys from the vehicle, and simply put a hand on his son's soaking shoulder when the keys turned up missing from the location on the dash where he'd thrown them during the previous night's struggle.

Gabriella changed into jeans and a polo shirt before tucking Troy's keys into her pocket and slipping back into her slicker. She caught the bus to school and plopped into a seat by herself before texting Troy. _"I have your keys. Will get them to you before 1__st__ period."_

She really wanted to ask him if they could talk, but since he hadn't called for their normal a.m. conversation, she doubted he was in that kind of mood. So she stood in line to get off the bus and then went straight to the gym. When she didn't find Troy there, she wasn't quite sure where else to look.

As luck would have it, Taylor and Chad came traipsing down the hall, both rolling their eyes at the amount of water they had soaked in just walking into the school.

"Where's your Troy Toy?" Chad asked then nearly shrunk back with the makeup-smeared look that Gabriella offered him and the smack that Taylor landed on his chest. "What? Doesn't he usually drive you to school? We've covered this in the past, right?"

"I rode the bus today," Gabriella informed sullenly. "His truck wouldn't start last night. He left it at the house and walked home."

"Hoops walked home from your place?" Chad held Taylor's hand down in case he asked something obviously stupid. "Did your mom have to kick him out after midnight again?" He smiled at the memory that had happened to Troy early on in his and Gabriella's young relationship.

"No," Gabriella shook her head. "I wish she had. That would mean that our evening went well."

"Oh," Chad stopped, puffing his cheeks full of air, unsure of what else to say.

Gabriella sucked in a breath and straightened herself to boost her confidence. "So, you guys haven't seen him?"

Taylor and Chad both shook their heads. As Gabriella tried to end the chat and walk past them Taylor grabbed her hand. "Do you wanna…go freshen your makeup, or something? I know I need to," she asked, giving Gabriella a reason to slip away and open up, if she wanted, even for just a few minutes.

"No," Gabriella declined. "I really just need to find Troy and give him his keys." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the 'G' keychain that held just three or four important pieces of metal.

"Try the theater, or Ms. D's room," Chad offered with a look at Taylor. "He's been gettin' a little bit of drama coaching from her the last week or so. He says it off-sets the idiotic things that Sharpay puts in his head at rehearsals."

Gabriella shook her head at the sound of Sharpay's name. "Why can't she just keep her mouth _shut_? She really does _not_ know when to just _stop!"_ Her voice rose and she felt the tears rising as well.

Taylor took her by the hand, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. Chad, on the other hand, took the keys from Gabriella's other hand and looked at Taylor. "I'll catch you later. I'm gonna go find Hoops."

Taylor nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

**TGTGTG**

By the time students had reached their third period class Gabriella had let the previous night's conversation play out in her mind more than a dozen times. She hadn't concentrated on physics, English Lit had been a flop, and even in her best meaning, best friend, boost-her-up type pep talk, Taylor had made her cry.

It was something about the line '_The two of you have been caught wrapped tighter than a pretzel in the girls' locker room…what do you MEAN you haven't told him about leaving early?' _At that point, Gabriella couldn't do much more than cry and mumble something about Taylor playing 'mother hen'. She stormed out of the bathroom and left Taylor alone to walk down the hall to the drama class they were supposed to attend with Troy and Chad.

Taylor now sat down beside Chad and shook her head as Troy walked in and sat behind his best friend. "Have you talked to her at all?" Chad turned in his seat and watched Troy just frown and shake his head.

"Tay?" Chad looked toward his girlfriend who shrugged her shoulders and cringed.

"I just made her cry…more," she spoke softly and watched the nearly hateful look that Troy threw at her.

"I'm sorry, ok?" Taylor tried.

"How long have you known she was leaving?" Troy threw the question in Taylor's direction. She pressed her lips together without a smile.

"How _long_, Taylor?" Troy asked again more forcefully.

"About a week now, I guess," Taylor admitted softly, nearly embarrassed that she knew this information before Gabriella's true best friend and confidante.

Troy held back from smacking the desk as hard as he wanted to but still let his hand slap against it. "Can you tell me why, Taylor? Why wouldn't she tell _me_?" he finally asked.

"Because she doesn't want to leave you, Troy. As excited as she is to make this move in her life, Troy, she doesn't want to leave _you_." Taylor watched as Troy let the truth roll around his mind.

The three friends turned to face the front when their dramatic teacher took her place at the head of the class. She visually ran through the rows and stopped momentarily when she came to the empty spot next to Troy, behind Taylor, where Gabriella was supposed to be.

"_Mizzzz_ Montez?" She let the buzz of Gabriella's name roll off her tongue as she looked around the room, hoping that maybe she had just chosen to sit somewhere else. When she didn't see the student, she looked toward the young lady's three friends who were sitting quietly in the back of the class.

"Has anyone seen Miss Montez this morning? Is she here? She's not supposed to be…" her voice stopped even though Troy could now imagine the rest of that sentence.

_Great, even Darbus knows and I didn't. Gabriella… _he thought.

Ms. Darbus watched him roll his eyes and then slouch in his undersized chair. She had had a conversation with his dark-haired girlfriend the day after her acceptance letter came in the mail. Gabriella had been thrilled about the opportunity, thrilled about the school she had dreamed of, and torn by the idea of finally having friends - real friends – and losing them to distance and the future.

She had needed to talk with someone and Ms. Darbus felt honored that the school's valedictorian had chosen her. Gabriella thought her mom wouldn't understand and hadn't found the courage to tell her closest friends – except Taylor. Ms. Darbus listened to her dilemma and encouraged her to open up to her friends and her mother – before moving day became a quick and rushed reality.

Needless to say, Gabriella hadn't taken that advice to heart.

Troy felt the entire classroom full of eyes focusing on him. Taylor lowered her eyes and then looked over at the brown-haired, young man. "Troy?" she waited for him to catch her eyes and hear her voice. "Go find her, please? She needs you."

**TGTGTG**

Gabriella climbed the familiar steps with her tennis shoes squeaking against them. Once she opened the door that gave way to the outside world, she slowed her pace and looked around as the rain continued to fall and sent trickles of water running down toward her.

She wrapped her arms around herself and stepped out into the rain on the rooftop where just a few weeks before she and Troy had waltzed. She moved around to the top area of the club's garden and stood under the mesh netting so she could be shielded from at least some of the droplets that the sky was still crying.

"Papa? I'm confused and I just don't know what to do or where else to turn. Albuquerque, it's become home. I've finally found friends that I love and who care for me. Mom likes it here and it's been full of opportunities. Can't we just have a little more time here? I still want our dream. I still want to go to Stanford and I know the Honors Program is an amazing opportunity…but I'm just not ready to go, Papa, not yet."

She spoke to herself mainly but looked upward. She was sure her father could hear her and that he would have an answer; he always had an answer.

What she heard, however, was the sound of the heavy door closing at the base of the stairs, and other footsteps squeaking up toward her. She knew who it was even before the rain-soaked hair appeared around the corner. Troy immediately looked up at her and held her gaze.

"Gabriella? What are you doing out here in the rain?" he asked first, but stopped and stood, waiting to see if she'd answer him.

She stared at him so intently. He could feel her eyes and the exact spots on his body where they were focused. He knew she was on the verge of tears and he knew this was a crucial time for both of them and their future.

He walked slowly up the three other steps and placed his hands in his pockets. "I told you," he spoke above the sound of the slight wind and falling rain, "I'm not going to let you say 'goodbye', Gabriella. That's not an option for you. But you've gotta tell me what's really going on. You of all people, you know the world's not gonna stop. You know time's not going to stand still. But it doesn't mean that moving forward has to change how we feel about each other. Don't you get that?"

Gabriella's tears mixed with the rain on her face as Troy took her hand and led her to the bench where their relationship had truly started. Gabriella still didn't know what to say to him, what to tell him to help him understand her feelings – although what he had already said pretty much summed up her thoughts.

She cleared her throat and gripped onto his hands that were unwilling to let go of hers. "Mom and I are leaving next Thursday, Troy. The house goes on the market Monday and we are packing up the van and leaving on Thursday. That's it for me in Albuquerque," her voice broke as the tears flowed. "I've always felt like I've left a teeny-tiny piece of me behind in every town where we've lived. But this time," she raised their hands and used his knuckles to wipe some of the rain and salty tears from her eyelashes, "I'm scared, Troy. I'm really, really scared."

Troy leaned toward her and placed a kiss on her forehead. She reluctantly let go of his fingers in order for him to wrap his arms around her. "Baby, what are you scared of? Tell me, please."

Gabriella's sobs were slow and quiet against his already drenched shirt. She couldn't think of what to say, where to start, how to try and describe all the feelings that were rushing around inside her body. So much of the good in her heart was sitting right there beside her; she just knew that when she moved on, that good would move out and she would lose it forever.

With her hands clenched to his shirt she pulled back and looked at his face. Troy opened his eyes to look into hers and waited for her to say anything.

"I love you, Wildcat," she choked on the breath she was trying to take around the emotions in her throat. "They can tell me I'm only seventeen and I've got my whole life ahead of me. They can tell me how great college will be and the amazing people I will meet there. They can even tell me what I should do with my career, and what job I might be best at. But they can't tell me that what I feel right now, for you, isn't love."

She pressed her face against Troy's neck and allowed him to just hold her for another moment.

"That's what I'm terrified of losing, Troy. What you and I have – at least what I think we have – I don't want to just walk away from it. Honestly, I'm not sure I can go on if I do," she told him softly as she tasted the rain on his neck. "If going to Stanford means losing you, I'm not sure I can do it."

Troy sat with his heart pounding in his chest, feeling her pulse in an odd rhythm, matching the emotions that she was pouring out to him. Her words frightened him only slightly, and only because he knew he had to convince her that neither their futures nor their dreams would come to an end just because she already had a path to follow.

"Do you know how much I love you right now? How much it's killing me to think that you're hurting this much over a matter of miles and hours? Gabriella, if you think I'm going to stop loving you because you and Maria get into a car and drive to Palo Alto next week, you're wrong. I wish you would've told me this – any of it – sooner, so that we could deal with it together." His words made her cry even more with a mixture of pain – knowing that it was hurting Troy; and still reassurance because he loved her too.

"Do you want _us_ to continue? I mean, this relationship, this _love_ that we've found, do you want it to end here in Albuquerque, New Mexico? Or do you want it to find its way through other places? Cause the way I see it, wherever your heart is, mine is there, too," Troy continued.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged tighter, not wanting to let go of the moment. "How, though, Troy? How are we supposed to make _us_ work?" She asked the questions so innocently that he wanted to tell her not to worry, that he would take care of it all.

Instead he told her the truth, "I don't know…yet…for sure. But I do know that it involves a lot of talking between us. Baby, you've gotta trust me. And it involves you going to Stanford and being all that you can be at that school. There's no question in my mind about that – and there shouldn't be in yours. That is one of your life dreams, Gabriella, and you have the chance to live out that dream. I can't be the one keeping you from that. And I'm not going to let you keep yourself from it, ok?"

He pulled away from her just enough to place his hands on her cheeks and looked into her eyes. "Do you hear me? You're going to Stanford, and that's fine. We are _not_ saying 'goodbye' because of that. Somehow, some way, that is just going to be a new chapter in _our_ lives together. I'm not going to let you slip through the cracks. I'm not going to let you run off to California and forget that it's your fault I'm up on that stage singing crazy show tunes and dancing with Sharpay and _not_ you. You've changed my life, Gabriella Montez, and I'm not going to let you live that down."

The smile on her face, the light giggle that emerged from her lips and the hold that she had on him made Troy realize just how quickly they had entered the adult world. The responsibilities of their future were right there in front of them at that very moment; not miles or years in the future, but right there.

"What is it with us and rain?" he recalled their dance on the roof and the way it had ended – a pop-up shower that sent them searching for dry clothes and towels, and a little more time alone together.

"Well," Gabriella responded after being pulled into Troy's lap to just enjoy the downpour in their already soaked clothing. "One thing's for sure. With us it doesn't just rain, it pours."

Troy smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Well, if this means that we can weather anything together, then pour it on!"

**TG-WhenItRains,ItPours-TG**


	21. Lost and Found - Part 1

**Wow, it's been forever - and yet there are sometimes, little things that come to mind that just make me think _'that would be a perfect Troy & Gabriella - or even Zanessa - story!' _And during the summer down-times the writing just happens. :) Yeah, I'm still KTZLF'ing and I know there are still some others out there with me...because you pm or fb or email and tell me! haha! (I've even had some ghosts come out to say 'hello'! ;D)  
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**So, kinda like my muse, this story is a tidbit of the lost and found pieces of HSM3 and the Parental Consent that goes along with it, at least in my mind! Thank you cncgrad for sticking with me and for many others who are still reading and reviewing and favoriting stories that ARE my way of K'ingTZLF. ;) This is part one of at least two in this little escapade! Please let me know what you think. Love your reviews, pm's fb notes and however else you might find to let me know! LOL!**

**KTZLF, Troyella and Zanessa fans - I'm right there with ya!**

* * *

**Parental Consent - Lost and Found - Part 1**

Troy looked across the yard and caught Gabriella's eye. Both of their looks pleaded with the other to rescue them from the parental conversations that were happening. They had shared a similar conversation just a half hour before … their futures, their college hopes, the potential distance that could interrupt their relationship after high school.

Their conversation had happened in the tree-house, high above the chaos that was the basketball championship after-party. Troy's mom had broken up their bubble of contentment with instructions for Troy to come down and greet his guests – namely the head coach of the college basketball team that everyone assumed Troy and Chad would join following another East High championship.

Gabriella was pulled in a slightly different direction when she hopped off of the ladder and Lucille Bolton pulled her and Maria Montez toward a group of East High alumni who were eager to discuss Gabriella's acceptance into Stanford University.

Now, the two halves of the respective couple were eager to pull away from the adults and revert back to their not-so-frivolous teenage selves. Troy sighed as Gabriella puckered her lips and blew a silent kiss in his direction.

"Are we boring you, son?" Jack Bolton smacked Troy on the shoulder just a little harder than necessary.

"What?" Troy tore his eyes from his wavy haired girlfriend and focused on the college coach in front of him. "Oh, no, sir…I just…"

"Jack, he's had his head on the court all night. I think he might just want to get back to the celebration." The experienced older man smiled at Troy and cocked his head toward the crowd of high schoolers that filled the Bolton's back yard.

Troy looked toward his dad with the hopes his father would agree. Jack - Troy's father and high school coach - rolled his eyes knowing well and good that Troy was only interested in getting back to one other student in particular.

The seventeen year old shrugged his shoulders slightly, quietly begging his father to set him free.

With another round of eye rolling and a click of his tongue Jack finally gave in. "Go. Enjoy yourself." He forced a smile and then relaxed into a fatherly grin letting Troy know he was serious. "Just…stay out of the tree-house, okay? Last thing I need is one of you falling out of that thing and really getting hurt," he instructed.

Troy nodded with a grin of his own as he took a step toward Gabriella. "Hey, at least the season is done!" He laughed out loud seeing his father lean his head backwards and mumble something incoherent toward the sky.

In the next moment, Troy was standing beside his girlfriend and smiling genuinely at Gabriella's mother and his own. At the first hint of a break in the conversation he turned his full attention to the young lady next to him. "Do you need a refill?" he asked quietly and pointed toward the half full cup of soda she was holding.

Rather than making a smart alec remark, Gabriella looked at him, simply questioning his thought.

"I need one," Troy answered her look and held up his empty hands. "Just thought if you needed more we can hop in the kitchen and grab something," he explained.

"Oh," the dark haired genius caught onto her boyfriend's excuse. "Yeah, that'd be good." She looked at her Mom with nearly innocent eyes. "Is that okay, Mom?"

Maria tilted her head slightly, as did Lucille Bolton, both women seeing right through Troy's attempt to pull his girlfriend away from their discussion. Maria looked to Lucille for a second motherly opinion and received a hint of young-love's remorse in return.

"Sure, go ahead," she responded, to Gabriella's relief.

"Just stay out of the tree-house," Lucille added after them. "The last thing we need is one of you falling out of that thing and really getting hurt."

"Yes, Ma'am," Troy smiled at his mom and then shook his head as he took Gabriella's hand and led her toward the back door of his home.

"What's funny about that?" Gabriella wondered at Troy's smirk.

"Dad just told me practically the same thing. We both know they aren't worried about us falling out of the tree. They're just worried about us being up there, alone!" Troy unlatched the back door of his home and held it as Gabriella walked in.

"What do they think we are gonna do up there with the yard full of people?" Gabriella responded and leaned against the counter in the Bolton's kitchen.

Troy's wink was enough to make Gabriella roll her eyes. His step toward her made the roll stop as she focused on the smiling lips that appeared to be heading her way.

"Hoops!"

The sound of another voice coming through the back door stopped their kiss a split second before the young mouths met, sending a simultaneous groan from both Troy and Gabriella. Their foreheads touched for just a moment before Chad's voice broke in again.

"Can you toss me another pack of hot dog buns and I think we need another case of Pepsi out here." Chad's nearly matter-of-fact tone made the young couple turn to glare at him.

"What?" Troy's curly-haired friend stepped toward the counter and stared at them.

"Do we look like we're in here grabbing food?" Troy asked with unmistakable sarcasm.

"Well you were about to grab _something,_" Chad commented with a finger pointing at the two of them.

"I spilled something on my shirt. I just came in here to change. We'll be back out in a few." Troy attempted to excuse his best friend from their presence.

"Mmm-hmmm…" Chad crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Troy, standing next to Gabriella, one arm possessively wrapped around her shoulder and her hand resting comfortably on Troy's hip.

Gabriella leaned her cheek against Troy's shoulder and simply smiled at the other basketball player who was standing in front of them. Without a word Chad shook his head and turned toward the door.

"Chad!" Troy suddenly let go of Gabriella and headed toward the pantry. He grabbed a case of cola's and brought them to his friend to take back out to the party. "Can you at least make it look believable?"

Chad jerked the box playfully from Troy's hands and looked back at Gabriella. "Taylor and I will be in the tree-house," he mumbled.

"Ooo, no!" Gabriella stopped him for one more second. "Coach and Luce said nobody in the tree house. You'll have to stick to the swing-set," she grinned.

Chad huffed, "Oh sure, _after_ you and Hoops come down the tree is off limits? And now you're calling dibs on the house? Give a championship player a chance here, will ya?"

Troy shrugged and nudged his friend out of the open door. "Dude, _my house_. Give me a break already!"

Chad grunted as the door closed behind him. Troy couldn't help but grin at the light-hearted giggle that escaped from Gabriella following their antics.

"So?" she asked when Troy made the few steps and stood in front of her.

"Where's that drink that we came in here for?" Troy grabbed her cup and turned it to his own lips. When he sat it back on the counter his face turned a bit more serious. "Have I thanked you for being at the game tonight?"

Gabriella noted his facial expression and took a moment to think before smiling at him with closed lips. "There were hundreds of people there, Troy. How do you know I was one of them?"

She took the quiet opportunity to tiptoe slightly and place a light kiss on his lips.

"Well, if you weren't there," he lifted his thumb to her lips and gently pressed on the softness, "then who did I hear shouting my name when I went down with that foul?"

"Foul? You were fouled? How dare they!" Gabriella teased.

"Gabriella, seriously," Troy smiled at her and used the tips of his index and middle fingers to push some of her hair behind her ear.

"I-" she leaned her cheek against his fingers, "I was worried about your knee, you know? You can't afford a more serious injury. Not now."

"Nah, don't worry about that. I'm all good, see?" He raised his leg into the air and slapped his thigh as he bent his knee and let the appendage bend back and forth several times.

Gabriella watched him for a moment until she was satisfied that he was, in fact, okay. Then she looked back into his eyes. "I'm glad I was there. It was exciting, Troy, exhilarating to watch that comeback!"

"Yep," Troy heard her words but was lost once their eyes connected.

And after a lengthy moment of silence their lips also connected in the celebratory kiss that Troy considered more exhilarating than any game of basketball that he'd ever played.

**TGTGTG**

The heavy breathing and wandering hands were more than either had expected when they walked into the house. Still standing in the kitchen Troy took in a hitched breath and was spurred on by Gabriella's closed eyes and hands under his shirt, which were now gripping the waistband of his jeans. He noted her upturned chin and lips waiting for his next kiss.

He pressed their lips together again and moved his lips to her ear. "Let's go…" his breath wavered as he tried to get his point across with a shift of his body.

Gabriella opened her eyes and recognized the bedroom door just a few feet away from them. Troy's bedroom was not unfamiliar to her in the least, although this invitation seemed to hold more weight in their relationship, on this night, on many levels. Intentionally or not, she tensed.

"Troy, I don't know…" she practically whispered.

He took another hesitant breath and pulled himself away from her. Troy grasped her hands in his and pressed his lips together as he thought about what he was trying to ask the young woman who had already stolen his heart.

"No…that's not-" he paused as he swallowed more nervously. "This whole night means so much to me, Gabriella. Out on the court tonight, I knew you were there; the whole time, I could feel you there. This party, the fact that you _and_ your mom are here…it means so much to me. I am so glad you're willing to share this with me…I just can't _tell_ you how much."

Gabriella sat quietly as he spoke, smiling at the young boy that appeared in front of her as he tried to share his feelings. Troy ran one hand through his hair and then rubbed the back of his neck.

"I-I'm not…" Troy pressed himself to find the right words, "I don't want us to…_go all the way_…" he licked his lips and grazed his teeth over his bottom one. "Not here, with half the school in my back yard."

They both chuckled with his hint at a jovial thought.

"I just want to spend some time with you tonight – just me and you – so I can show you how much I appreciate your support and just you being here. I don't – I'm not gonna pressure you into anything, Gabriella. But, just, my best chance to be alone with you is probably right now, behind that door…with the door locked," Troy explained.

Gabriella let out a breath and then laughed under her breath. "Otherwise Chad will continue to interrupt us?"

Troy shook his head and rolled his eyes. "His best friend status is seriously on the line. I mean, how many times can one guy interrupt our kisses?"

Gabriella held her hand in the air to stop Troy from answering his own question. "Don't answer that!" she smiled and pushed herself away from the counter.

With another tiptoeing kiss to Troy's jaw Gabriella gave in to his request. Linking their fingers together she let him lead her into his room. And with a click of the lock two sets of hands began wandering again, showing each other their very personal appreciation.

**TGTGTG**

"Have you seen Troy?" Jack nudged his wife's shoulder and drew her attention away from the guests who continued to celebrate the victorious basketball team. Lucille immediately looked toward the structure nestled above the yard where she had found her son and his girlfriend earlier.

"Not in a bit," she admitted. "I told them to stay out of the tree-house, though. You don't think they went back up, do you?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, I told Troy the same thing. I think it's run its course this time around." Still he glanced up into the tree to determine whether or not his son had disobeyed him.

"Do you need him for something?" Lucille looked back at her husband before moving back into her other conversation.

"Not really," Jack replied with a shake of his head. "I was just gonna try to get the guys together for a couple of pictures."

Lucille looked slightly confused and in disbelief. She then moved her finger, pointing to their back yard that was still filled with teenagers, parents and neighbors.

"I know, I know," Jack answered her silent berating. "Guess I'll go chat with Charlie. Maybe it's his turn to keep up with our son."

Lucille shook her head. "No. You know exactly who is keeping up with _your_ son. Have you seen a certain dark-haired, upcoming Stanford University student? I bet if you find her, you'll find Troy."

Jack nodded. "Did we give our permission for her to be his keeper?"

Lucille smacked her husband lightly on the cheek and then followed it with a quick kiss. "Not our choice, Sweetheart, but actually, yes, I think we did approve."

With a quick smile and another peck on the cheek Jack turned his attention toward Chad's father who seemed to be incompletely engrossed in the story his wife was telling – as though he had heard the story at least twenty times before. But somewhere between Lucille and Charlie Danforth, Jack's eye caught sight of a movement inside his son's room which overlooked the back yard.

He looked around purposefully, spotting the various members of his basketball team. He noted Chad, in particular, who quickly moved toward him when Jack started walking toward the house.

"Hey, Coach! Great party!" Chad started. He opted to place his hands on his hips instead of looking guilty or defensive with his arms across his chest.

"Glad you're enjoying, Curly Top," Jack grinned a half-hearted look in Chad's direction.

"You know, Rocket Man is telling everybody that he should've been the player of the game. Is he crazy, or what?" Chad attempted to engage Jack.

Jack stopped for a moment and looked at his virtually second son. "Where's Troy?" He asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"What…who?" Chad covered poorly.

"Troy. You know, my son? Captain of the team…the _actual_ player of the game?"

"Oh, yeah," Chad chuckled with his nerves beginning to show, "Hoops!" He laughed.

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked at the dark-skinned boy who appeared to be blushing slightly.

"I…I think I saw him go into the house a few minutes ago," Chad nodded and kept going through his dry throat. "Said he had spilled something on his shirt and was going in to change." He stopped with that and continued nodding his head.

"Uh-huh," Jack rolled his tongue around in his mouth. "If you see him come back out send him my way, would ya? His mother…has someone else for him to talk to…" Jack lied.

Chad let his breath out slowly. "You got it, Coach. As soon as I see him."

Jack turned his back on Chad and let out his own heavy sigh. "Maybe I should've left the tree-house option open…"

**TGTGTG**

Their first hint that they had been inside the house too long was a somewhat light, rapping sound on the bedroom door. The two still-at-least-partially clothed teens ignored the sound while enjoying kisses and touches that were escalating beyond the appreciation phase.

The second clue was the rattling doorknob followed by a familiar voice. "Hoops, Dude," a somewhat frantic Chad began, "Coach is looking for you."

"Shhh…" Troy's hushed voice was all that Chad heard.

A slight gasp from Gabriella broke the next moment of silence followed by a muffled giggle and a less than innocent, "Stop!" whispered into the air.

"Troy, c'mon Man, did you hear me?" Chad tried again. "Your dad's looking for you. If you don't show up in the back yard quickly he's probably gonna send out a search party."

Another muffled moan reached the door along with what could have been less than quiet kisses. Chad cringed. He knew Troy and Gabriella. He knew they weren't doing what it sounded like they were doing behind the locked door. Problem was he knew there was potential for _that_ to happen. And if his friends were about to reach their potential…he needed to stop them for numerous reasons.

"That's it, Hoops. I know where the key is. If you won't get up and unlock this door I guess I'll just have to do it myself."

"What did he say?" Gabriella's voice was finally coherent enough for Chad to understand. Point Chad.

"Nice try, Chad." Troy chimed in with a breathy, frustrated tone.

"Dude, I'm serious. Gabs, I at least need you to listen to me. If I come out of the house without Troy, Coach is coming in after him. Worse yet, he'll probably send Mama Luce to check things out," Chad pressed.

"Ah crap." Troy sat up in the bed and looked at his girlfriend's mussed hair, kiss-swollen lips and naked chest. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. "Give us ten minutes, will ya? Just stall him for ten minutes?"

Gabriella couldn't help but scoot herself up and steal another kiss from her also-shirtless boyfriend whose jeans had somehow become undone. She noted, then, that her own hand was resting against his low-riding waistband. Maybe Chad's latest interruption was a good thing on several levels. Troy's body part still-confined by those jeans had willingly made itself known early into their discovery session. Even though it had stayed covered throughout their half hour together, Gabriella knew she could now appreciate her first love even more.

"Ten minutes?" Chad knocked his knuckles on the bedroom door again. "You'd better make it ten seconds. It looks like he's heading this way."

"Chad!" The truth of the moment finally set into Troy's head.

"Troy?" Gabriella looked at her boyfriend with a slight bit of fear in her voice. She twisted her knees toward the side of the bed and tugged on Troy's comforter, suddenly feeling like an uncovered Eve in the Garden of Eden. Her eyes darted over the bed, beyond her boyfriend and then down to the floor. "Where'd you put my… Troy, move! I don't see my…my…"

Troy raised and lowered his hands gently, trying to calm her nerves and asking her to focus. "Gabriella, it's okay. Alright? Here, put your top back on and just put my sweater on over top of it."

Gabriella stopped, tilted her head slightly and glared, albeit lovingly, at her boyfriend. "Right. That won't look at all suspicious."

Troy grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I'm just going for a clothed look before Dad or Chad unlocks the door and barges in. I, for one, don't want them or anyone else to see what I'm seeing right now!" His cheeks reddened as his eyes visualized the beautiful skin currently hidden under his bed covering.

Gabriella also blushed at his words, but couldn't help but smile at his compliment. In the moment of silence, the two relived just a few seconds of the physical and mental connection they had been experiencing.

"Yo! Still out here, still listening!" Chad's voice interrupted again.

Troy's shoulders slumped while his smile turned into a frustrated pout. "Then stand guard and don't let my father unlock the door. Help us out here Chad; you know you owe us!"

"Wh- Why do I owe you anything? I'm just not unlocking the door because I don't want to embarrass Gabriella," Chad said as he crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the door.

"Hey, why do you think I'd be embarrassed?" Gabriella chimed in, still holding the covers against her chest and scanning the floor for her very important missing garment.

"Then you _won't_ mind if I grab this little allen wrench from the top of the door frame and…"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Came both voices from behind the closed door.

"Mmm-hmm," Chad hummed. "That's what I thought. By the way, Gabster – huh, not sure if that's a good thing or not - Coach just stopped to talk to your mom."

"No, no, no!" Gabriella's voice was soft but fearful from the tone Chad was hearing. "Troy, seriously, where is my…my…my bra?" She attempted to whisper the final word. "If my mother comes in here with your dad…"

"Hey, I just wanted you to myself for a few minutes. What's the harm in that?" Troy stated his case, hoping it would be convincing enough to the parental types.

"I know that. But the harm is that I'm missing a pretty vital piece of clothing. Coach may not notice it, but I assure you my mother will recognize that I'm not wearing one of my undergarments," she spoke through gritting teeth trying to get her boyfriend to understand.

"La-la-la…" the sing-song voice on the outside of the door piped in. "I'm just gonna pretend I'm not hearing this. How long have you two been in there anyway?" Chad wiped a hand across his forehead gratefully, wondering just what he _had_ interrupted this time around.

"Not long enough!" Troy's frustration began to show as he jerked his own t-shirt over his head. He stood with hands on his hips and glanced around the floor before trying to give a softer look in Gabriella's direction. "I don't know where it is. I'm sorry. But seriously, put your top on, put my sweater over top of it, and call it done. If they suspect something then they suspect something. We can't help that. I'll get your bra back to you when I find it."

"La-La-LAAAA," Chad sang again.

"Hey, if you're really putting your fingers in your ears then you shouldn't be able to hear us talking about her missing BRA!" Troy picked up a pillow and chucked it at his bedroom door.

"Troy!" Gabriella couldn't help but grin at him as she picked up his sweater and slid her arms into the sleeves. Her eyes grew larger once the sweater was on and she pulled her dark curls out from under the collar. She touched a spot on her neck and once again blushed as she looked toward the young man who was far more important to her than a lost piece of clothing.

"You…didn't leave any _marks_ on me, did you?" She intentionally kept her voice at a hear-able level.

Troy quickly stepped toward Gabriella and grinned a sideways smirk knowing she was joking with their lookout. "Nah…" he paused slightly, "Well, not where anyone can see it anyways," he added.

The choking cough registered through the wooden panel. "That's it! I'm outta here!" Chad pushed himself away from the door.

"Chad, no!" Gabriella had to laugh, knowing she was covered about as well as she could be by that point.

"No!" He pouted in his own special way. "I don't want to know about your young sexual escapades!" He punctuated the final two words as proof of what he thought was happening between the two.

"We don't have any young _sexual_ escapades…not yet at least…" Gabriella thought about a few of the times, including this one, that she and Troy had been able to find some time truly alone together.

"Psshhh, beg to differ on that one!" Chad answered and again leaned against the door frame.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she began to tidy up the other items that she and Troy had disrupted while in his room. "Beg _you_ to just shut up for a minute and keep Coach out of this room. Can you do that, please?" she sighed and looked at Troy. "X-Y-Z…" she pointed toward him.

"What?" Troy asked, distracted by his enjoyment of her argument with Chad.

"Zip…Your…Zipper," Gabriella's almost motherly look toward Troy's pants gave him a cold chill.

"Can you see my shaking head?" Chad ignored Gabriella's request.

"Shut-Up, Chad!" Troy and Gabriella responded in unison.

A snorting laugh was what they heard, followed by a simple, "Hurry up, guys, they're heading this way!"

**TGTGTG**

Troy puffed his cheeks full of air and pushed it out through his lips as Gabriella gnawed on her bottom lip. "Are you sure this looks okay?" she asked with worried eyes.

Troy looked at her beautiful face and nodded hesitantly. "It does to me," he smiled gently. "You're covered…I'm covered and zipped," he smiled a little wider as Gabriella did the same, "It's better than having them walk in on us half naked."

Gabriella let out a sigh and nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's true." She nodded again when Troy gave her a questioning look as he put his hand on the doorknob and unlocked the barrier to their few moments of privacy.

"Hey," Troy reached toward her and put his fingers under her chin to lift her face toward him, "Do you regret…"

Gabriella cut him off with a quick shake of her head as she stood on her tiptoes and leaned up to steal one last kiss from him. "No," she said confidently. "I think I secretly wanted to share in the celebration with you…and now I have!" Her eyebrows wagged up and down inadvertently making Troy let out a chuckle.

"Well, as long as we're on the same page here!" The two grinned as Troy opened the door to find a slightly-bored Chad leaning on the door frame.

"Bout time," Chad looked at his wrist that didn't contain a watch. All three of them looked toward the back door as they heard it open and watched as Jack and Maria walked in.

"Well, Chad told me Troy came in…" Jack was saying as they rounded the corner and saw all three teens standing in Troy's bedroom doorway.

"Hey, Dad, what's up?" Troy covered as Gabriella found a comfortable spot peeking out from behind his shoulder.

"Trying to find you," Jack pointed and raised his eyebrows. "Where've you been?"

Troy shook his head and pointed toward the back yard. "Out and in, just makin' the rounds," he shrugged his shoulders.

Jack nodded but the look on his face told Troy he wasn't completely buying his story.

"Gabriella," Maria scrunched her nose slightly, "are you wearing Troy's sweater?" Gabriella's mother tilted her head and raised her own eyebrows while waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, I, um, I spilled something on my dress…" she attempted.

Chad's coughing expletive made them all look toward him. "'Scuse me, must be something in the air," he said as he eyed Gabriella for the lie she'd just told and then stepped away from the couple.

"I thought Troy had spilled something on his shirt," Jack started.

"Wha-" Troy looked toward Chad, hoping for a little assistance or an explanation at the least. "Yeah, actually, I was holding a drink and we were dancing and it spilled on both of us. I came in to change my shirt and to get my sweater for Gabriella."

"And that took both of you?" Maria wondered for added measure.

"Mama," Gabriella stared at her mother, begging with her eyes that Maria would just let this conversation drop.

"Well, you aren't joined at the hip. Troy's a big boy. I'm guessing he can change his shirt without your help."

Troy did his best not to show his hand in the poker-game of lies that was shaping up between them and the parents.

"You know, we didn't even think about it," he began somewhat honestly. "The spill happened and we both headed in here. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, really. Sorry," he added with an innocent gesture of his hands.

Maria looked at her daughter with a knowing glance before answering Troy. "It's fine, Troy. We just wanted to make sure nothing had happened to either of you." She looked into his eyes pulling out the slight bit of guilt Troy was harboring.

"And, on that note," Jack interrupted, "We should _all_ get back to the party. Don't you think?"

Troy and Gabriella answered in agreement while Chad stood to the side doing his best to not laugh like a fourth-grader who had practically tattle-taled on his best friend. Troy elbowed the other young man as they passed him heading toward the back door of the house.

"Not cool," Troy shot him a look.

Chad held his hands up in innocence and snickered quietly. "Dude, I covered for you. What more do you want?"

Troy simply shook his head and grunted, knowing his best friend was correct and that payback would be costly. Gabriella tugged on Troy's hand leading him toward Jack and Maria who were already holding the back door open for them. As they passed their parents, Maria smiled with pressed lips at both Troy and Gabriella.

Just a step outside of the door, Jack put a hand on Troy's shoulder and pulled him back slightly. Gabriella glanced back to see why Troy had stopped and then let go of his hand when she noticed that Jack was getting ready to speak to him. Gabriella stepped on, hesitantly, when Maria caught up to her.

Troy's father took a deep breath and squeezed a bit too hard on Troy's shoulder. He offered a smile to the mother of one of the players from the team as she passed by and then turned that smile into a crooked, fatherly smirk as he looked directly into his son's eyes and then pressed his lips together, forming the words in his mind. "Can I give you one bit of advice about that lie you just told?" Jack made sure he had Troy's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Troy sucked in a breath and held it momentarily.

"When you come in to change clothes…" Jack stalled and looked at Troy's shirt. "Make sure you put on a _different_ shirt…not just the same shirt – _backwards!_" He reached up and pulled on the tag that was peeking out from under the front collar of his son's shirt.

Troy's eyes grew large as he looked at his father with a slight bit of fear and stood silently.

"Just sayin'," Jack tucked the tag back into place, patted it down with his fingertips then turned around to walk away.

Troy debated how to fix his shirt for just a split second before spotting Chad who was still standing at the back door of the house. He crossed his arms over his chest and made it easy for Chad to tell that Troy was gritting his teeth. Troy finally walked the few steps back to his helpful friend.

"Not. One. Word." Troy managed as he stepped behind Chad and quickly rotated his shirt without taking it off his body.

Chad laughed and waited for Troy to straighten his clothes. "Hey, Dude, at least it's not G's bra hanging out of your shirt. Did you ever find that, by the way?"

Troy's glare was enough to shut Chad up, but only for a moment before the curly topped teen took off to spread the embarrassing tale that he had just witnessed.

**PARENTALCONSENT-LOSTANDFOUND-PART1**


	22. Lost and Found - Part 2

**Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews and comments! That just boosts my need to write even more! ;) And to know that there are still so many out there KTZLF'ing...I LOVE it!**

**So, here's part two of this little Troyella escapade. As you can guess, this would be the 'found' chapter - as I sit here listening to "Just Wanna Be With You" from the HSM3 soundtrack! Yeah, there are still a lot of Troyella and Zanessa stories that need to be told!**

******Pertemis, StillIntoYou, 1, & ZanessaLover576** **thanks for making me one of your favorites** - Readers like you feed my obsession and fuel my Zanessa addiction! 3

**Again, thank you ALL for reading. I hope you'll enjoy and let me know what you think!**

**KTZLF! ;)  
adc**

* * *

**Parental Consent - Chapter 22 - Lost and Found - Part 2**

Lucille scooted her men out the door the following Monday morning, each with another bag of garbage in their hands and a promise to clean the grill and the patio after school that evening – since there was no basketball practice…finally!

Troy's mother sat at the kitchen table for another half hour looking at a magazine article she had been meaning to read for the past month. She picked up a pen and grabbed her notepad to jot down a list of chores she wanted to try and accomplish while she had the house to herself.

Unfortunately, at the top of that list, was the laundry that hadn't been done over the celebratory weekend. Following Saturday night's par-tay in their back yard, the whole family had slept in, leaving barely half the day Sunday to create green-space once again in their happily danced-down grass.

Still, she smiled. Her husband and son had won the championship. She and Jack had celebrated that championship privately the previous night. That was the reason she was scooting the boys out the door just a bit later than normal on this beginning of a new school week. She smiled again. Her husband was just as excited as his team about winning that final game – and he was just as eager to celebrate.

Lucille looked over the list again and decided laundry was the least of the evils she needed to accomplish. So, she put her breakfast dishes in the sink and chose to start the chore in the room that she dreaded most – Troy's bedroom.

She had learned over the past seventeen years that no matter how many laundry hampers they put in their son's bedroom, he could not – for the life of him – actually put all of his dirty clothes into those hampers. Troy wasn't a slob, but his clothes-sorting skills still left much room for improvement.

That's why Lucille was rarely surprised when she found herself picking up clothing that ranged from socks to sweaty basketball shorts and even dress shirts that her basketball playing son would 'shoot' at his hamper. When he missed, he never rebounded; not on the bedroom basketball court. With a sigh she started around his desk, trying to make sure she had two matching socks, the stray t-shirt and even the pair of sweatpants that were trying to sneak under Troy's bed.

That's where she found herself in a slight bit of confusion. As she pulled the pants from the carpeted floor another piece of clothing tagged along. Only, Lucille, the mom of a teenaged boy, was quite sure the extra clothing did _not_ belong to her son. It only took her another second before her head started shaking and she gingerly inspected the lacy, yet satin-soft bra that certainly did not match her, more womanly, cup size.

"When and how…" she began the questions in a whisper trying to convince herself that she hadn't just picked up this article of underwear from her _son's_ bedroom floor. "Nevermind, I don't want to know how. But whose… well, I obviously know whose…at least it better be who I'm thinking or we have a whole other set of issues!"

Lucille stood and looked around the room with lips pressed together. "What else has been left in here?" She glanced at the bedside table on the opposite side of the twin mattress from her.

Gingerly she held onto the bra, tucked the laundry basket under her other arm and began hesitantly rounding Troy's bed. She stared at the table, the picture of Gabriella sitting framed in front of the basketball lamp. Lucille glanced at the drawer on the table.

"I'm not snooping," she told herself. "Well, I _am_ snooping, but it's my house and it's for my own good…and Troy's good, and Gabriella's…I'm one of the mom's here, right?" She took a deep breath and reached the bra-holding hand toward the drawer. "Please tell me there aren't condoms in here…please just tell me that…"

"Honey?"

The voice from the bedroom door startled Troy's mom. She jumped slightly, let the basket fall to the bed and, for a moment, completely forgot the other item she was gripping.

Jack chuckled as he watched his obviously-flustered and now blushing wife. "Who are you talking to?" He smiled at Lucille and creased his eyebrows to glance around the room.

"Jack! You startled me! What…what are you doing back home?"

Troy's father stepped into the room and looked more closely at his wife. "I forgot the game tape and I know the guys will want to see it during second period so I thought I'd just run home and pick it up. Are you on the phone?" He moved farther into the room and stood just a few feet away from the bed.

"Oh. No, no, I'm not on the phone," Lucille responded.

"Hmmm. Okay, then who were you talking to?" Jack placed his hands on his hips simply waiting.

"No one," Lucille stuttered slightly, "Myself, I guess. I didn't realize I was talking out loud."

"Ah, well, you were. What are you doing in Troy's room? And did I hear you say something about…condoms?" Jack wrinkled his nose slightly, the connection between those two topics not registering in his head.

"Jack…" Lucille tried not to scold and wasn't sure she wanted to delve into either topic with anyone at the moment.

The coach moved to the opposite side of the bed from his wife and tilted his head. His impish smile formed when he saw the white lace in Lucille's hand. "Far from the reason that I actually came home…but do you often carry your bras around the house?"

"Jack…" Lucille repeated, "I'm trying to get laundry started," she stated with only a hint of surety.

"Mmm-hmmm," he cocked his eyebrows at his wife and blew her a soft kiss. "Or maybe you were actually hoping I'd come home and we could continue our celebration since we _know_ we're alone now!" He eyed his wife with a longing look that told her he was suddenly in no hurry to get back to work.

Lucille rolled her eyes at his thought and wiped the smile from her face. "Don't go there right now, please."

"Awww, why not? I thought you enjoyed being the champion coach's wife!" Jack rounded the bed and slid his arm around Lucille's waist. "You could model that little number for me. You know I'm a sucker for the lacy stuff," he whispered into her ear.

Lucille sucked in a slow breath listening to his words and then blinked slowly and looked at the bra in her hand. "Apparently so is your son," she mumbled under her breath.

With a shake of her head she turned in Jack's embrace and allowed him to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "If I tried to model _this little number_ for you, Sweetheart, it wouldn't cover much to begin with."

"Mmm," Jack's cockeyed smile told her where his mind was heading. "I like that idea!"

"Jackson Alexander Bolton!" Lucille smacked his chest gently.

"Whaat?" He whined. "I can't help it if I like you in lace…and out of it," he tried to steal another kiss with his wife leaning backwards away from him.

"You're missing my point," Lucille looked into his eyes and then held up the undergarment.

"Well that's something I certainly _don't_ want to miss," he attempted to joke.

"Jack!" Lucille allowed herself to fully scold her playful husband, even with the amused smile adorning her own face.

"What?!" Jack raised his voice but continued grinning at her and placing small kisses on her cheeks and neck whenever he could actually reach them with his lips.

"_This_ is _not_ my bra!" Lucille finally stated the pure truth.

"What?" Jack stopped his loving barrage and looked at the white material.

"This is not _MY_ bra," she repeated.

Jack squinted his eyes slightly and pouted his lower lip. "Well whose is it?" He looked back and forth between the bra and his wife's face.

Both stood for several moments while Lucille Bolton attempted to let her husband figure out the mystery on his own.

"You don't think _I_ brought that in here, do you? Luce, I would never…" Jack started before she put a quick finger over his lips to quiet at least that fear.

"No, no… My Darling that thought never entered my mind. Actually, I know exactly who this belongs to. I'm just trying to figure out how it got…" she gestured at Troy's bed, "…_here."_

Again they stood in silence for a moment before Jack shook his head. "Okay, as usual, you're right. I've missed the point."

Lucille smiled at him at tilted her head at his naivety. "Honey, I found this under Troy's bed. Not folded up, not hidden exactly. When I pulled a pair of his sweats from under the bed this came along with them."

Jack nodded and then shook his head. "So our son is now wearing women's clothing? I don't see him being into lace and I really don't think that would fit him."

Lucille let her head fall backwards and groaned slightly. "Noooo! But I would say he's into lace…when he's taking it _off_ of his girlfriend." She waited only a moment for the words to sink in.

"Wait a minute…" Jack's eyes widened and his next glance at the bra was more of a stolen, embarrassed type peek. "Do you mean…that's Gabriella's?" His look of disbelief caused his mouth to open slightly. "Huh, I think I'm getting your point now."

"Ding, ding, ding…" Lucille spoke with humorous sarcasm, "We have a winner!"

"I knew their little party escape was more than just a stained shirt," Jack mumbled slightly.

The couple stood there without saying a word for several minutes. Both sighed with their arms wrapped around each other just swaying slightly. Lucille tucked her head under Jack's chin, holding him just because she could and simply because she didn't want to think about the situation of confronting their son.

Finally they both let out another breath and loosened their hug. Jack laughed a little as he released his hold, catching Luce's attention.

"What?" she wondered with a little hesitation.

"So, you gonna wash that with Troy's stuff or with _your _delicates?"

Lucille huffed and threw Gabriella's undergarment to hit Jack in the chest. "Don't you need to go back to work? Leave now or _you'll_ be washing it by hand!"

The two teens were laughing as they walked into Troy's home that afternoon after school. Gabriella blushed slightly as she came into the kitchen and saw Lucille putting drinks on the counter for them.

"Big day at school?" Lucille asked with a somewhat tight smile.

"Big day of nothing," Troy supplied as he grabbed an apple and sunk his teeth into it.

"Everyone was still in game mode," Gabriella added as she sat down on a stool and took a sip of the lemonade Lucille had prepared.

"Exactly how long will this party continue?" Lucille wondered. "I knew it wasn't over when everyone left the back yard," she alluded.

"Pep rally, trophy presentation, team pictures…" Gabriella rattled off the list of events that had kept them out of the classrooms for much of the day. "Which, by the way, send me some of the pictures you took with your phone today, Troy. It'd be nice to have some crowd shots in the yearbook, not just pictures of the team."

Troy nodded as he chewed another bite of the fruit and then took the glass from Gabriella's hand to share her drink.

"Troy Alexander, there's a glass for you right there. You don't have to take Gabriella's," Lucille pointed at him with a wooden spoon.

"Oh, it's okay, Lucille. He shares my drink all the time at lunch," Gabriella defended her boyfriend.

"That's apparently not all you share…" Lucille mumbled.

"What's that, Mom?" Troy asked after swallowing.

"Hmm?" Lucille covered. "Nothing, Sweety." She quickly changed topics slightly. "So if there were no classes, what are you two up to this afternoon?"

"Nothing!" Troy quickly answered, stepping on Gabriella's response which was "Chemistry…" to which Lucille mumbled once more, "Right, chemistry…chemical or _physical_?"

"What was that?" Troy looked at his mom a bit skeptically.

"I- Sorry, kids. I think I'm still tired left over from the party and cleanup. I'll leave you two be. I've gotta fold clothes so I'll be in the laundry room." Lucille smiled at them genuinely as she left the room.

"Oh, Lucille," Gabriella called after her, "Thank you for hosting the party. It was absolutely amazing!" Gabriella's voice told Troy's mother how grateful she really was.

Lucille sighed quietly and stepped back into the kitchen giving Gabriella a more loving smile. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Gabriella. I'm really happy you and Maria could join us. Welcome to the Bolton basketball family!" She watched as Gabriella returned a grateful smile.

"Did you hear that?" Troy grinned at Gabriella when Lucille left the room and then leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips. "My mom has already welcomed you into our family!"

Gabriella laughed and then shied away from him slightly. "Troy, in your cleanup, did you find my…bra?" her cheeks reddened with the whispered word.

"Oh, shoot, no I haven't. Dad and I were working in the back yard cleaning up. Mom said she was gonna catch up on cleaning…the…house…today…" his voice slowed as both teens thought about the item that had been quickly discarded during their _amazing_ party celebration in Troy's room.

Gabriella's face turned a deep crimson through her tanned skin. "Can we go look for it?" she pointed toward Troy's bedroom even as her eyes shifted toward the laundry room. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Troy hopped off the barstool and took Gabriella's hand in his as he led her toward his room. "Like what? It's in my room somewhere. That's the only place it could be." Although Troy quickly noted the lack of clothes on his floor and the closed closet door and missing clothes hampers.

"Unless of course your mom came in to get your dirty laundry?" Gabriella's shoulders sank and she quickly fell onto Troy's bed with a hand over her eyes.

"Gabriella, we didn't do anything wrong!" Troy sat down beside her and touched her shoulder.

"Right. You know that and I know that but even Chad doesn't believe us," Gabriella fretted. "First Coach catches you with your tag hanging out and now…"

"Now, nothing," Troy pulled her hand away from her eyes and looked down at her. "Dad let the whole backwards shirt thing go, okay? He hasn't said anything else about it. Chad is Chad. Goofy, trouble-maker, Chad. If mom found something in here, fine. We did nothing wrong."

Gabriella shrugged one shoulder as she watched a determined Troy make his point. "Well, what we did wasn't exactly _right_ either. We aren't consenting adults just yet."

"I know. But –" Troy huffed slightly. "They should know we aren't going to take any chances. As tempting as it is I wouldn't let that happen, not yet."

Gabriella smiled at him. "You've thought about …_that_…really?"

Troy's eyebrows knit themselves together with his wrinkled forehead. "_That_?" his face suddenly relaxed and he had to swallow his dry throat. "Well, yeah, sorry, I guess," he began, not knowing exactly what the right answer might be. "I'm seventeen. I have a gorgeous girlfriend," he noted Gabriella cringing at his compliment and looked directly into her eyes. "Yeah, I've thought about it…with you…" he blinked and averted his eyes to her neck momentarily before reconnecting them and continuing, "…and it's made for some pretty amazing dreams of a future I hope we can have."

Gabriella sucked in a breath reading the depth of his eyes, hearing the meaning in his words and voice and wondering if any of his thoughts had mirrored ones that _she_ had dreamed as well.

The single knuckle rapping lightly on the door broke their bubble and made them both sit up quickly, flushed faces joining with rapid heartbeats as they looked toward Troy's mother holding a stack of clothes.

Lucille didn't smile, knowing she had obviously interrupted a serious moment between her son and the girl who had stolen his heart. "Troy –ahem-" she cleared her own dry throat, "Here are clothes for you to put away. I – I'm assuming one piece in particular belongs to Gabriella."

Lucille lowered her chin and held her breath as she watched Gabriella close her eyes and hang her head in embarrassment.

"Mom, it's not…" Troy started; only to be met by Lucille's hand in the air telling him to stop.

"We'll talk about this later," Lucille instructed, "all of us."

Troy watched his mom walk away, his girlfriend fall backwards again onto his bed and shook his head at both of them.

"Well, that could've gone worse."

He looked down at Gabriella just in time to see her eyes open and shoot flaming daggers in his direction. He held his hands up in surrender.

"I know, I know…shut up, Troy."

After a few minutes of silence Troy moved a few strands of hair off Gabriella's forehead, wiped a stray tear that had slipped over her cheekbone and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Gabriella," he started gently but firmly, "Okay, so Mom found your bra. So what? Does that change how you feel about me? Do you regret that we're getting to know each other? Cause, in all honesty, of the things I might change to make _us_ better, this isn't on the list. Well, maybe I would go back and try to find your bra Saturday night instead of just leaving it…" he rambled and sat down on the chair at his desk before crossing his arms and looking back at the dark-haired girl still lying on his bed.

"We were just talking about dreaming of each other. You've had those dreams too, I could tell by the look in your face. So don't tell me, now, that a little parental consent…or lack of it…is going to change that." Troy continued, hoping to rattle her chain and fuel a spark of her romantic fire that he had witnessed on more than a few occasions.

"Are you telling me that you aren't the list bit embarrassed or worried about what kind of lecture we're going to have to sit through from our parents? Not just your Mom, Troy, but _all_ three of our parents?" Gabriella questioned with a hand still over her eyes, shaking her head against his comforter.

"If you'd uncover your face and look at mine you'd probably see three different shades of red! Of course I'm embarrassed. Your underwear is lying on top of my boxers neatly folded and sexy and…"

"Troy!" Gabriella uncovered her eyes quickly and in one swift move she sat up on the bed and threw a pillow in his direction. In the next second she grabbed her freshly laundered clothing and stuffed it down the front of her pants.

Troy shielded himself from the pillow and watched with a completely amused and laughing face as his girlfriend tried to hide the evidence that he had just referenced.

"That's like third-base, you know?" he watched as she struggled to fit the small garment under the tight waistband. At the same time he stood up and walked to the door, closing it slightly but not completely.

"Excuse me?" Gabriella looked at him with an annoyed glare.

"If you put _that_…_there…" _he stepped toward the bed and pointed toward her waist, "it's like daring me to steal third base," his cocky voice went right along with the hands resting on his hips. "You do know what I mean, don't you?"

Gabriella's eyes grew and her mouth dropped open. "Troy, your mother is here and there is _no way…_"

He laughed at her again and warded off her deadly gaze with a quick smile. "Well see, it worked. I got your mind off of being embarrassed by the whole bra incident."

Gabriella took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Do you think we're really in trouble?" She grimaced and looked up at Troy with a concerned, girlish face. "I mean, I hate the idea that your mom might…I don't know…she might think less of me after this. You know?"

Troy shook his head and looked at her sweetly. "Gabriella, if she's gonna be disappointed in anyone it'll be me. She's probably disappointed that I brought you in here and did…_whatever_…to you."

"But-" she bit her bottom lip slightly as she tugged on her pants and withdrew the lacy item from it. "You didn't do anything that I didn't agree to." Ridding herself of the blushing feelings, Gabriella held her bra in her lap and began to fidget with the clasps.

"Right," Troy stated and sat down beside her on the bed. "But how often does a teenage _girl_ convince her boyfriend to sneak away from the party in _his_ backyard and into _his_ bedroom to fool around while their parents are _at_ the party?"

Gabriella glanced at his gesturing hands and then back at the hook and eye closures. She shrugged one shoulder, "I dunno," she mumbled slightly, "not usually something I would do. That's for sure. And, now that you mention it, it was kinda your idea."

She looked back at Troy's face and smiled as he grinned back and rolled his eyes at her answer. "Exactly my point," he agreed.

"So then, wait," Gabriella hooked and unhooked the clasps as she thought for a moment, looking away from Troy again. "Troy, how many girls…I mean…you _were_ pretty smooth at unhooking…" she held up the back of her bra for him to see. "Have you had a lot of practice?" She asked in nearly a whisper of worry.

Troy tensed slightly next to her but kept his eyes glued to her face as he listened to her question. "I, uh, I don't normally coerce girls to come into my bedroom during family parties…if that's what you're asking."

Gabriella noticed his nervous tone and took a chance on looking up into his face. "Well, that's good to know but I think I'm just wondering, now, maybe, how many girls you've…practiced on? I guess?"

"Hmmm," Troy shifted his eyes and looked around the room before focusing again on his girlfriend.

"That many, huh?" Gabriella bit a little harder on her bottom lip and felt her palms beginning to sweat.

"Hey!" Troy poked her shoulder with his index finger before using it to turn her chin up toward him. "No fair putting words in my mouth," he noticed her eyes watching his lips intently.

"Sorry," she looked up at his eyes and realized again just how convincing he could be.

"To answer your question…two…well, three, now, I guess," Troy sighed.

Gabriella swallowed a little roughly, "Okaaay," she hesitated to ask for any more details so she ducked her head and plucked at the lace on her lap.

"You're one of the three," Troy supplied and watched Gabriella nod quietly.

"The second would be Sharpay, in the fourth grade when we were chasing a bunch of girls, playing tag and I snapped her bra and it came undone because she didn't have anything to hold the thing in place…" he continued and enjoyed the small grin on Gabriella's face.

"And the third?" she wondered somewhat weakly but hopeful.

Troy hesitated and licked his lips while holding his breath. "The third," he swallowed and breathed in a shallow breath, "was named Sugar," he stopped and pressed his lips together.

Gabriella glanced back toward him and raised her eyebrows, now wanting to know more. "Sugar?" She asked, trying her best not to smile or laugh.

"Sugar," Troy nodded. He placed his hands behind him on the mattress and leaned backwards, crossing his ankles on the floor to the side of the bed where they sat. He stared straight forward.

"And, when did…" Gabriella tilted her head wanting to ask the delicate question and yet worried and amused by his potential answer – since it seemed Troy's thoughts were moving backwards. "Wait, should I know this person?"

"Why, will you be jealous?" he turned his head slightly toward Gabriella and offered her only a small smile.

"I reserve that right, I think," she stated and watched him a little closer. "How do I know you aren't fibbing about the whole 'tag' bit with Sharpay? Maybe if I asked her about it she'd say you just couldn't keep your hands off of her," Gabriella suggested, making Troy roll his eyes.

"Think about who you're talking about, please. Of course she'd say I couldn't keep my hands off of her. If you don't believe me ask Chad!" His sarcastic tone showed through causing Gabriella to snicker quietly.

"Okay, okay," she put her hand up. "What was the situation with _Sugar?"_

Troy took another deep breath. "Sugar…was a big teddy bear that my grandmother gave me in eighth grade. She said even a teenage boy needed something cuddly in his room."

Gabriella twisted herself on his bed until her back was against Troy's headboard and her legs were comfortably tucked underneath one of his pillows. As she relaxed a little more she looked at him with pure amusement. "Okay, I'm intrigued, continue, I think I'm ready for this story now."

"Well, sidebar here, there was a basketball team party one weekend. It was at one of the ninth grader's houses and me and Chad and Jase went to it. The older guys got into this discussion about rounding the bases with their girlfriends. Looking back on things I'm pretty sure none of them had girlfriends and had no clue what they were talking about. But one of them had us convinced that every guy _had _to know how to unhook a girls bra if he wanted to get anywhere with a girl."

Gabriella shook her head, still trying not to laugh, "Oh, please go on!" she insisted.

Troy took the bra from Gabriella's hands and noted the blush on her face as his fingers gently turned the material where he could see the back of the garment. "So Chad tells me he'd been _practicing_ using one of his mom's bras and said I was a total dork because I hadn't even tried it."

"Uh-oh…"

"Well, I _borrowed_ one of mom's bras, wrapped it around Sugar and practiced. Enough said?" Troy's own blush mirrored Gabriella's from moments earlier.

"And that's it?" Gabriella raised up on her knees and sat back on her calves leaning her chin against Troy's shoulder.

"That's the sad and embarrassing truth of my bra experiences," Troy turned his head and accepted the sweet smile and the kiss that Gabriella had waiting for him.

"Well, if it means anything at all, I think Sugar taught you well," she admitted with a new-found appreciation for her boyfriend's many talents. "And I'd say she was pretty lucky to have your arms wrapped around her…"

The familiar, single-knuckled knock, interrupted their next kiss. Lucille Bolton stood this time with a chemistry book in her hand and other, white knuckles, gripping the doorknob.

"Really, you two?" she looked skeptically at the bra in her son's hands. "I'm trying to be understanding here and not overthink things but we may be heading toward some new house rules."

"Mama," Troy began.

Lucille took a deep breath. She saw the two red faces. She felt the twinge of young love in her heart and all the way to the pit of her stomach. And as much as she didn't want to encourage the physical aspect of their growing relationship she also didn't want to discourage them from being loving with each other and enjoying time together – at home.

"We still need to talk about the whole…thing…" Lucille pointed to what Troy was delicately holding, causing him to roll his eyes and groan.

"Does Dad need to be involved in that talk?" Troy wondered with a mumble.

"Or my mom?" Gabriella asked with a cringe.

Mrs. Bolton let her breath slip through her nose and pressed her lips together making the kids wonder if she was angry or just concerned about the type of activity that may have transpired, causing Gabriella to leave behind the delicate garment.

"That depends," Lucille leaned against the door frame and eyed the couple on the bed. "How much do they already know?" she wondered honestly.

"What d'ya mean?" Troyed cocked his head to the side and squinted, trying to understand his mother.

"I mean… How much do Jack and Maria already know about …whatever situation led to _that_ being left behind in your room? I'll admit, I'm assuming the worst, I suppose, but the way both of you were blushing earlier and even now, I think I can assume that this wasn't just a teenage prank." She licked her tongue lightly over her dry lips and watched her son gently hand his girlfriend the item in focus.

"Dad…isn't completely clueless on this one," Troy admitted after a moment. "But you don't need to assume the worst, Mom."

Lucille pressed her lips together a bit tighter before swallowing and nodding her chin. "Okay, go on."

Troy looked at Gabriella who was sitting stiffly beside him and staring at Lucille's bare toes that stood just inside the bedroom door.

"During the party we snuck in here. I just wanted to actually be _alone_ with my girlfriend for a few minutes." Troy shrugged and held his palms out in front of him asking for his mother's understanding. "We…" his face turned a brighter red but he forced himself to look into Lucille's eyes while addressing her. "We just…we were makin' out, I guess," he let out an exasperated breath.

Lucille's eyebrows rose slightly and she ran the tips of her fingers over her forehead. "That must've been when your dad started looking for you," she recalled and Troy nodded.

"Gabriella?" Lucille looked toward the young lady who raised her eyes to meet the older ones.

"Yes, Ma'am?" she spoke softly.

"Did Troy take this make-out session farther than you wanted?" Lucille's face also turned a shade of pink as she asked the question.

"Mom," Troy attempted to interrupt.

Gabriella shook her head vigorously. "No, Lucille, no…not at all." She glanced away quickly, then looked at Troy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I…we didn't…" her eyes pleaded with Troy's mother to not make her complete her thought. "We just…we didn't…please, believe us?"

The three looked at each other for just a moment before Troy and Gabriella watched Lucille take an apparently deep, cleansing breath.

"I'm the cool mom, you know that, right?" She nodded in their direction with a very serious face.

"Excuse me?" Troy grinned at her slightly as Gabriella leaned back to stretch her tense muscles.

"I'm the cool mom. I always have been. All the basketball team comes to our house; we have the championship party at our house so we know everyone's being _responsible_. I put up with your father being…your father…I intervene for you," she pointed at both of the teens, "and I stick up for you, even with Maria. So I'm cool, right?"

Troy and Gabriella looked toward Lucille and nodded hesitantly.

"That means you don't lie to me about these things -" she stopped somewhat abruptly, scrunched her eyelids shut and put a hand in the air to ward of the thought she was envisioning. "That doesn't mean you have free reign in _that_ area. But it means I trust you both to use your best judgment and the common sense that the good Lord gave you. You hear me?"

The young couple nodded more strongly, still unsure of Lucille's support.

"Does that mean that Dad and Maria don't need to know any more about this?" Troy ventured to ask.

"Oh," Lucille blinked her eyes, remembering the scene from earlier in the day. "Your father is aware of what was left behind but appears to be either overlooking or ignoring what could have potentially happened in here. If he doesn't bring it up again, I won't."

"And my mom?" Gabriella shook her head wondering about the other parental unit in the equation.

"I have a feeling Maria is more in tune with you and your relationship than what you know, Gabriella. As with Jack, if she asks me about it, I will tell her what I know to be the truth…that the two of you snuck off during the party and celebrated safely."

Lucille's motherly yet kind smile caused Gabriella to offer a soft smile of her own. "Thank you, Mama Luce." She blushed again and looked down at the floor while Lucille's smile widened.

"Now, with all that said, I still have laundry to fold." She turned and took just a couple of steps outside of Troy's room before turning back momentarily. "By the way?" she said just to catch their attention. "The door stays _open_ Love Birds, O-P-E-N! Got it?" she peeked back into the room.

Troy and Gabriella both nodded their understanding firmly with tight-lipped faces, trying to soak in the lecture or conversation that they had just experienced. They listened carefully, as well, when Lucille kept talking as she walked away from Troy's room again.

"I'm just thankful that my son is actually practicing on a young lady, his own age, now, instead of putting _my_ good bra on that poor bear. Poor, poor Sugar!"

The wealth of Lucille's knowledge was enough to send Gabriella into a fit of giggles while Troy fell backwards on his bed, covering his face from the thought of just how his mother might have learned that last bit of truth.

**PARENTALCONSENT-LOSTANDFOUND**


	23. College Woes - Part 1

**Hi Everyone! The idea for this story comes from Dani! You got my mind rolling and even sparked a thought on how to work in another HSM3 question that I've had...more on that to come. ;) This is part one of three on this topic. Hope you'll enjoy and let me know what you think. So, just what was the initial reaction to Gabriella's Stanford acceptance? Here we go!**

**Thanks Everyone & KTZLF!  
****adc**

* * *

**Parental Consent - College Woes - Part 1**

"This is it…"

Gabriella looked at Maria with worried eyes, tears of excitement and the unknown beginning to blur her vision. She glanced down at the envelope in her hands - the one with the return address label from Palo Alto, California.

The young woman breathed shallowly and looked at her mom who wore the loving, motherly smile and nodded at her daughter.

"Open it, Mija," Maria encouraged.

"What if…" Gabriella began before her mother shushed her with a single finger.

"You won't know unless you open it. Either way, the answer is in your hands, Briella. Either way, your father and I are already so proud of you! You are an amazing daughter, you know that?" Maria asked as her eyes also began to fill.

Gabriella sniffled back her fear, stood up straighter, and worked to suck in a deep, cleansing breath. She bit on her bottom lip nervously before swiping her fingertips under her eyes and turning her attention fully to the envelope.

She tore a small corner opening, tucked one of her short, manicured fingernails into the hole and gently ripped the sealed paper. She breathed in and out once more before removing the letter inside.

The dark-haired senior glanced back at her mother as she unfolded the Stanford University stationery and looked down at the computer generated words.

"We are pleased to inform you…" Gabriella began and her eyes brightened almost immediately. She read silently for another moment. "I'm in, Mama!" She smiled widely, giggled ever-so-gently, and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "I've been accepted into Stanford!"

The two women embraced tightly, each smiling, and sharing tears of joy at a lifelong dream that was quickly becoming a reality.

"Your father told you, didn't he?" Maria pulled away from Gabriella, placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders and held her gaze. "He told you Stanford was your school! The day we drove past the campus and you decided that you wanted to go there. He told you, you could."

"Mom, I was like, seven on that trip. I had no clue what they required or what college was even about at that point!" Gabriella laughed at the memory and wiped away just a few more of her tears.

"But fact is fact, Sweetheart," Maria continued, "That day you told us you wanted to go to Stanford; your father was determined to make your dream come true. And now, here you are, holding an acceptance letter from that very school." She blinked her eyes and gazed at Gabriella. "Congratulations, Mija, I am so proud of you!"

The two hugged again and both looked at the letter that held at least a piece of Gabriella's future.

With the next words the Montez women had to stop and hug yet again, place hands over their mouths and allow their hearts to beat even faster.

"Early admission?" Maria looked with only a hint of disbelief. "Gabriella, what an amazing honor!"

Gabriella nodded and read the words five more times before attempting to voice her thoughts. "One of…from all over the world…prestigious…" she read the words out-loud, sort of, and swallowed a few times as she tried to digest the meaning.

She moved some hair out of her face and looked into open space. "I…oh wow."

Maria watched her daughter; her beautiful, intelligent, college-bound daughter, who suddenly appeared to have a bit of uncertainty running through her mind.

Gabriella turned and looked out the back door then back at her mother.

"What is it, Sweetheart?" Maria stepped toward Gabriella and placed a hand on her arm.

Gabriella pressed her lips together and smiled at her mother. But Maria quickly noticed the sad turn on her daughter's face. "Briella?"

"I just…wow," Gabriella spoke in a near-whisper. "It says May…that…that's just a few months away. It's…it's so quick," her voice became nearly a whisper as she tried to link her thoughts. She put her fingertips to her lips running the edges over her soft skin. "I think I need a few minutes to let this all soak in." She nodded at her mother and stepped toward the back door. "Just, wow," she said again, minus the excitement.

Maria placed a kiss on Gabriella's forehead and then followed her to the back door and watched as her daughter walked into the back yard. Gabriella immediately headed toward the hammock that hung near their picnic table.

Her mother leaned against the door frame staring at the young lady in front of her. Maria's little girl had grown up and in just a matter of months she would be heading to college – the college that she chose, with her father's help, a decade before.

**TGTGTG**

Gabriella held the heavy ropes on the flimsy seat as still as possible as she pulled herself onto the knit squares. The hammock had become a place for chats and snuggles with her boyfriend. That was the reason she had chosen this seat, where she wanted to re-read her college acceptance letter.

Stanford was her dream-come-true. She had sent her application into the school during her junior year. She had applied to the early admissions program soon after she and Maria moved to Albuquerque. Gabriella knew both of those requests had been rejected. She had the letters to prove that. But she also knew the rejections were caused by her junior-year status.

When she reapplied during her senior year, she knew her chances were better – but really was in shock that she had the opportunity to begin college before actually graduating from high school.

_Dear Miss Montez,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Stanford University's Pre-Law program. Your exemplary high school transcript and community service efforts also qualify you for an early admission opportunity._

_Please contact us as soon as possible for more information regarding this prestigious opportunity. The first thirty students to accept this invitation will be allowed to begin their Stanford experience in early May._

_Congratulations!_

_The Admissions Staff_

_Stanford University_

The letter was simple and called for immediate attention. But as she sat in the late fall shadows in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gabriella's mind and heart were nowhere near Palo Alto, California, or the Stanford University campus. Instead her mind had quickly turned to a house, just a few streets away from her own, and the thought that this simple letter could take her away from the young man who had already changed her life.

"Daddy?" she spoke with confusion in her struggling voice. "I want to go to Stanford. You know that. But…I – I love Troy. I know things would probably be different if you were here but you always said that God has a plan and things happen for a reason. Your death…mom and I having to move around…singing with Troy and then finding him again here…those weren't all just coincidences. I know it. I know there's a reason Troy's in my life and there's a reason that I've fallen in love with him. I know you and Mom and Coach and Luce would argue with me…about being in love…but I really believe I am. And I just can't believe it's a lesson in heartbreak – cause I've already had that lesson Daddy, when you left us! I don't believe Troy was put into my life just for either one of us to get a broken heart."

"The college stuff, Dad… Stanford," Gabriella continued her prayer of sorts, "I'm accepted. And I'm invited to go early. But Dad, what if I don't want to? What if I want to stay here? I don't want to miss any chances with my friends because I finally _have_ friends now. I'm not sure how to tell Mom all of this and if you were here I doubt I'd be spilling my guts to you like I am now. But I need help here. I finally feel like a teenager instead of a little adult. I'm finally getting to experience things like other, _normal_ kids – not like the freaky math girl, or the girl whose dad died."

She looked back at the letter in her hand and ran her finger over the words. "What do I do, Daddy?"

Gabriella lay backwards in the hammock and closed her eyes as the roping encased her. For a moment she felt as though her father was wrapping her in his hug, holding her, consoling her, encouraging her. And then, just a moment later it was as if she was in Troy's embrace. She could practically smell his essence and feel his lips brushing against her forehead. In that instant she knew at least one thing that she needed to do.

**TGTGTG**

"Mom?" Gabriella opened the door of her home and yelled only to get her mother's attention.

"In the living room, Sweetheart," Maria responded.

"I'm – I'm going for a walk," Gabriella announced.

"Okay," Maria stuck her head through the door and looked through the kitchen at her daughter. "Everything okay, Mija?"

Gabriella nodded hesitantly.

"Do you mind if I tell a few people," Maria pointed toward the letter in Gabriella's hand, "about Stanford?" she asked innocently.

Gabriella thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Can you give it just a little while? Please?" Her eyebrows began to weave together and she looked down at the floor.

Maria moved toward her daughter and didn't say a word until she could take Gabriella by the hand. "Tell me what's wrong, Baby Girl. Are you having second thoughts about Stanford?" She tried to look into her Briella's eyes but only received a shoulder shrug in response.

"Why would you second guess this, Briella? It's your dream come true for colleges. I figured you would've already called to accept the early admissions invitation."

Gabriella looked at her mother and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. "I know you're right, Mama. But a couple of thoughts just hit me as I was thinking about all of that. One…in particular. That's why I need to take a walk." She declared with as much assurance as she could muster.

Maria tilted her head and watched her daughter's body language. The somewhat sad face pretending to be confident; the shoulders tense although they were slouching; and, most importantly, the fingers playing with the 'T' pendant on the necklace that sat comfortably, naturally-almost, at the base of her neck.

"Will Troy bring you home later or should I come pick you up?" Maria asked with a little less of a smile.

Gabriella didn't question how her mother might know where the walk would lead her.

"I'm not sure yet," the younger woman sighed. "I just know that I need to talk to him about this in person."

Maria nodded her head in understanding. "That's fine," she began, "But Briella, no matter how Troy reacts to this news, you should hold your head high and be proud. You've worked hard for this and deserve this. And, if Troy is half the young man I think he is, he'll tell you the same thing.

**TGTGTG**

The 6:15pm knock on the door was a little unexpected at the Bolton house. Jack was in the shower after a short basketball practice and Troy was beginning his homework while Lucille looked around for dinner.

Basketball season was always chaotic at their house. The matriarch of the family often found herself alone at home or running errands for the two men in her life. She refused to call herself a secretary for either one of those guys, but between opening their mail and taking college phone call questions, it was nearly a given that she was playing that role.

Opening the door was a simple break in her non-routine, even though she glanced at the sandy-haired high school senior who was planted in the living room with music pouring into his ears. Lucille had to smile as she headed toward the ringing doorbell, he was humming some song that she knew she was bound to hear, on stage, in the high school play just a few months away.

"Well, hi there!" she smiled at the young woman who stood at her door.

"Hi," Gabriella answered somewhat nervously.

"Come on in, Sweetheart," Lucille tilted her head slightly and mentally noted Gabriella's tense smile. "Is everything okay?"

Gabriella nodded quietly and purposefully worked to hide the envelope she was carrying. "I didn't even think…" she looked at Lucille and pressed her lips together. "Is Troy home from practice yet? I needed to…I just wanted to talk to him. But I didn't even call before coming over. I'm sorry."

Lucille shook her head and did her best to give Gabriella a comforting, relaxed facial expression. "That's fine. You know you're welcome here, whether Troy's home or not. But you're in luck. He and Jack got home just a little bit ago and he's working on homework in the living room." Lucille pointed toward the boy in question who was still oblivious to their guest.

"Troy," Lucille spoke just a little louder. He still sat with his back toward them, humming to the music on his MP3 player. "Troy!" She spoke even louder, finally drawing at least a glance from her son.

"What?" He did a double take after hearing his mother but seeing his girlfriend standing in the hallway behind him. "Hey!" He smiled genuinely and quickly pulled the ear buds from his head, practically jumping up off the couch.

"I didn't think I'd see you tonight." Troy stepped toward the women but pretty much excused his mother by ignoring her presence. His eyes were focused solely on Gabriella and hers on him.

Lucille smiled at the two of them, ignoring the only-slightly rude reaction from her teenage son. "I'll be in the kitchen fixing dinner. Gabriella, do you want to stay?"

Gabriella tore her eyes from Troy's momentarily to look at his mother. "Wha-, oh, no, that's fine. I'm sure my mom will have dinner when I get home. Thank you, though, Lucille." She smiled at the older woman who turned to leave them alone.

"Are we that in tune?" Troy asked with a grin. "You knew I needed help on the literature homework and came right over, right?"

He made her smile. It was a true reaction to simply being with him. Gabriella listened to his words and she smiled at him – and even laughed a little at his attempted joke.

"You wish!" she retorted and followed him into the living room where they sat down on the couch, thigh to thigh and glanced quickly at the book Troy was trying to study.

Just as quickly their eyes were back on each other. "Well, if that's not why you're here then what brings you over? Surely you don't need _my_ help with something!" Troy joked again.

Gabriella smiled and breathed in and out a couple of times. She looked down at the envelope she held and then raised it up for Troy to see the front of it.

His eyes widened, looking at the return address, and then shifted to Gabriella's eyes. "Is that…" he held his breath slightly.

She nodded slowly.

"You're in." He stated firmly and without hesitation.

Again she nodded slowly.

"Gabriella, that's amazing!" Troy opened his arms and wrapped her tightly. "See, I told you. Nothing to worry about. They would be stupid _not_ to accept you. Are you kidding me? This is awesome!"

Gabriella closed her eyes and breathed in deeply without saying a word. It was just like being back in that hammock, wrapped in warmth and care – better than that because this was her Wildcat's embrace and nothing could compare. And, she thought about Maria's words, Troy was reacting exactly as she expected; encouraging, loving and supportive.

After a few minutes in each others' arms Troy finally relented and leaned back to see his beautiful girlfriend. "Why aren't you squealing?" He asked.

Gabriella smiled at him. "I'm saving that for when I tell Taylor," she laughed. "Although I imagine she'll be the one squealing, not me."

Troy reached out and pushed a strand of hair away from her eye. "So, Stanford, wow."

"Yeah," Gabriella nodded a bit stronger. "I – I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel right now, though. I've waited so long to get this letter. And I've worried so much that I wouldn't be accepted. Now that I am…"

"Why were you worrying?" Troy creased his eyebrows a little. "Did you not believe me when I told you you'd get in? You're too hard on yourself, Gabriella."

"I know, I know," she answered. "It's just…a lot of students apply and only a few make it."

"And you're one of them," Troy interrupted her before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Your mom has gotta be over the moon! I'm surprised she didn't call my mom before you got here!"

"I asked her not to, not yet at least," Gabriella sighed.

"Why not?" Troy wondered. "This is huge. It's what you've wanted, what your dad wanted for you, and Maria. You should be out on that balcony of yours screaming to all of Albuquerque that you, Gabriella Montez, are heading to Stanford University!"

"I just, I wanted to tell you first," Gabriella admitted shyly.

Troy took a moment to look at her. He reached for her hand and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. "You're nervous."

Gabriella didn't try to read into his words. They were true at every level of her thoughts concerning her college and future.

"Yeah, aren't you?" she kept her eyes locked on Troy's as she tried to cover just how deep her nerves were sparking.

"What, about college?" Troy put on his acting face and narrowed his eyes. "Psssh, it's high school at a different location. Party, basketball, girls…"

He braced himself for the smack that landed on his chest once Gabriella actually heard his words. "Hey!"

The two laughed together as Troy tried to hold his hands up in surrender. "I'm joking!"

Gabriella pointed a finger at him and grabbed his hand that was attempting to reach for her ribs. "I haven't invested the last year of my life in your education just for you to plan on partying for the next four or five years!"

"Really now?" Troy grasped her hands and held them while they smiled at each other. "My _education_ is where you've invested the last year of your life. So you've had no _fun_ with me whatsoever, Miss Tutor-Genius-Freaky-Math-Girl?"

"Ouch!" she spoke of the mental hit he'd just landed. "No fair pulling out the Freaky Math Girl thing!" She stopped her assault and took in the color of Troy's eyes, the shape of his cheekbone and the smile that nearly made her melt. "You know it's more than that. That's why I came here to tell you my news in person. You know you mean a lot to me, Wildcat, more than you realize."

Troy noticed the shift in the air as she spoke to him. "I think you're wrong about that," he tucked one finger under her chin to hold her attention. "You mean a lot to me, too. Do you realize that?"

Gabriella nodded.

"I think," Troy started again, "that we were put into each other's lives for a purpose, you know? Some power out there in the universe knew that we needed to meet and that we would make a difference in each other's lives. I mean, how else do you explain it?" He shrugged one shoulder and looked down at their hands that were meshed together on their touching knees.

"I've been thinking that same thing, recently," Gabriella added. "It's just…" she looked away from Troy and let her voice drift as well.

"What?" Troy asked, watching her a little more closely.

"I'm not sure how to say it," Gabriella admitted in a whisper.

Troy squeezed her hand. "Hey, just like kindergarten, remember? You can tell me anything."

Gabriella breathed out, "Moving here, finding you, finding friends, having this time with you and your family and being able to _get to know_ you, Troy," she blinked and gripped his hand tightly, "it just means so much to me…you mean…_so_ much…" Her eyes looked into his, nearly pleading with him to understand.

Troy's face remained relaxed, his features meeting her nervous gaze with nothing more than understanding and acceptance. He took in a deep breath, looked down at their hands for just a split second and then back into her deep brown eyes that were just waiting for whatever he decided to say.

"Gabriella, I fell in love with you the minute we sang together in Colorado. You know that, right? So if you're sitting here, debating whether or not to tell me that you're…_in love -_ with me… I'm not gonna jump up and run away from you if you say that, because I fell, head first – well, maybe heart-first, in this case – a long time ago."

Her eyes glistened as she listened to him. Her lips twitched to smile as her heart sat in her throat. "So," she swallowed, searching for her voice, "if I say _it_, you're not gonna think I'm freaky on yet another level?"

Troy smiled at her and shook his head gently. "No," was his single-word answer without any hint of a joke or thought of saying more.

Gabriella licked her lips tentatively, trying to feel the words she wanted to form. "I do…love you, Wildcat. That's kinda why I'm scared about this college thing, you know?" She looked down at their hands. "Falling in love…graduating from high school…starting another chapter of my life – our lives… it's a lot, all at once, right?"

Troy leaned his shoulder against her and took the envelope out of her lap. He didn't remove the paper from inside but looked at the return address. "It is a lot. But we'll handle it, okay? Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Gabriella asked, resting her head against his and continuing to look at their entwined fingers.

"Love doesn't go away, Gabriella. Whether you're in Albuquerque, or Palo Alto, or Sydney, Australia, I still love you. Don't forget that, okay?"

Gabriella felt the serious tone of Troy's voice and nodded without looking at him. She could feel his love and knew he meant every word that he had just spoken. She would remember, forever, that love doesn't go away. It wouldn't go away…even if she had to.

**TGTGTG**

"Luce, Honey, how's dinner coming along?" Jack Bolton's voice called from the middle of the staircase as he headed toward the kitchen. Gabriella and Troy turned in time to see Troy's father rubbing a towel through his freshly-showered hair and wrapping the towel around his neck.

Gabriella turned back toward Troy after seeing the shirtless older man and sighing nervously with a near laugh.

"He's always hungry after practice during basketball season. Mom says we eat her out of house and home this time of the year. Dad blames it on me, but he's the one that's always yelling about dinner and running for the kitchen half dressed!" Troy attempted to explain his father's behavior.

"It is his house," Gabriella snickered quietly as they began to hear voices from the kitchen.

"Just go put a shirt on, please. Gabriella's here." Lucille chided her husband.

"But Luce, I'm just wondering if dinner's almost done. I need to eat, you know," Jack complained.

"I _know_ you need to finish getting dressed. Go - upstairs…find a shirt. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes…two hours, tops."

"Two – what?" Jack turned back and looked at his wife. "Not funny," he pouted as Lucille pushed him back toward the stairs. "Hi, Gabriella," Jack called as he headed toward the master bedroom.

Troy's girlfriend couldn't help but blush. "Hi, Coach Bolton," she responded.

Troy took the moment to smile at her and used the break in the mood as a good excuse to steal a kiss from her and run his thumb over her cheekbone. "Can we tell mom, at least?" Troy questioned like an elementary school boy.

Gabriella's eyes grew large as her smile faded slightly. "About…what we were just talking about?" She shook her head at him.

Troy shrugged his shoulders. "She's gonna find out sooner or later, Gabriella." He also shook his head. "Stanford's amazing. You can't keep it a secret for long!" he continued.

Gabriella let out a breath and laughed.

"What?" Troy leaned back on the couch and looked at his girlfriend.

"I thought you wanted to tell her about the conversation we _just_ had…about…being…in _love_?" Gabriella explained in a hushed voice.

Troy relaxed again and grinned at her. "Well, not so much _that _part of our conversation!" He conceded. "Although I think my mom is suspicious about that as well." He raised his eyebrows. "She's a sucker for those romance books."

Gabriella's cheeks flushed again. "You've never read any of those have you?" Troy asked with a sideways, skeptical glance.

She shook her head trying to convince him of the lie she was trying to tell.

"You have!" Troy pointed at her causing Gabriella to grab his finger and try to argue with him.

"So what if I have! It's like a right of passage for a teenage girl to read a romantic book. Some of them are even in our reading assignments. Didn't you read Jane Eyre?" She tried to ward off her boyfriend's playful attack.

"That's not romance!" Troy argued. "That's like, classic, literature, forced-to-read it stuff."

"You never read the book, did you?" Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Of course not," Troy relented.

"Jock," she prodded him.

"Freaky-Math-Girl who's been accepted to Stanford University!" He countered.

"Freaky-Basketball-Player-Theater-Geek who fell in love with the Freaky-Math-Girl!" Gabriella stuck her tongue out at Troy and then lifted her hands to protect herself from the pillow he threw in her direction.

"Troy Alexander!" Lucille stood with hands on her hips. "That's my _good_ pillow!" She scolded.

Troy laughed at his mother and then tried to dampen his amusement. "We don't have _good_ pillows, Mom."

"Ugh," Lucille huffed in mock frustration. "Two men in the house. Gabriella, I envy you and Maria sometimes. Maybe I can come spend some time in a house with other women. That would be nice for a change." She sat down in the recliner in the room and closed her eyes for just a moment appreciating the idea of getting away from her husband and son even for just a few days.

Gabriella laughed at Lucille and then caught Troy's eye. "I'm sure Mom would love that sometime, Lucille. She may need some company…" Gabriella eyed Troy and held up the Stanford letter.

"Good point," Troy agreed. He sat up straighter and slid his hand along Gabriella's knee, allowing her to put her hand in his for support.

"Hmmm?" Lucille opened her eyes and looked toward the young couple. "What do you mean?" she lifted her head a bit farther and caught the bit of nerves coming from the young woman beside her son.

"After graduation, I mean," Gabriella spoke slowly. "Since it looks like I'll be heading to California…"

Lucille quickly sat up even straighter, back stiff and eyes focused on Troy's girlfriend. "What are you saying?" she stared at Gabriella. "Why are you going to California?"

"Well," Gabriella breathed in, "that's where I'll be for –"

"Stanford!" Lucille jumped to an excited conclusion.

Gabriella looked at Troy while Lucille covered her mouth – but not her smile. Gabriella held up the envelope to show Lucille that she was on the right track.

"Is that your acceptance letter?" Lucille's eyes nearly glowed as Gabriella nodded.

"How did you know?" Gabriella wondered.

"Troy…and Maria…they've both told me it's where you would be going. We just knew you were waiting for the official word." Lucille shared.

"Well, I guess I have it now," Gabriella grinned.

"How wonderful!" Lucille stood from the chair and opened her arms toward Gabriella. "This calls for a hug, come on, now," she encouraged.

Gabriella's smile grew bigger as she let go of Troy's hand and joined his mother, in the middle of the living room, in a firm and meaningful embrace.

"You, My Dear, are going to knock their socks off. I am so happy for you!" Lucille beamed.

When she let Gabriella go Lucille put her hands on the girl's biceps and squeezed gently. "Stay for dinner! I'll go fix a special dessert. It won't take long. Call your mom and have her join us!" She pressed.

Gabriella opened her mouth to resist the invitation but Troy raised his eyebrows in an effort to support his mother. "Alright, I'll stay," she agreed. "But don't make anything special, really."

"Ah-" Lucille countered, "It's not every day a special young lady in our lives is accepted to such a wonderful school. Of course I'm going to make something special for you. Let me go see what I can find!"

Troy waited for his mom to leave the room and then pulled Gabriella back down on the couch beside him. "Sure, you get a special dessert because you're accepted to Stanford. I'll get offered a scholarship to U of A and she'll order Chinese takeout."

Gabriella laughed as Troy's fingers met her ribs with a tickling effect. "Wait," she reached for his hands and stopped his assault momentarily as she looked seriously at his face, "You've signed with U of A? Troy that's –"

"No, no! I was making a joke." Troy diverted his eyes to the back of the couch and squeezed her fingers gently. "I haven't signed anything. I've talked to the coach, you know, and a couple of others. I'm just not ready to make that final call yet."

"Hmmm," Gabriella tilted her head to try and regain his focus. "But you know that's where you're going – why put it off? What does that suspense really gain?" She wondered honestly.

Troy looked back at her, "I don't know," he shrugged, "I guess, for me, it's not that cut and dry. You know me, when I let myself get caught up in the future something usually goes wrong. One step at a time for me to keep things on track. Let's make sure I actually graduate from high school first – and then I'll come back to the college stuff." He tried to smile at her but was met with the look of his tutor, not his girlfriend.

"Seriously, Troy. This all happens so fast. You can't live _just_ for your future, but you do have to be prepared for it." She took a deep breath. "Besides, if you don't graduate that looks bad on _me_ and we can't have that!" she added with a small smile.

Troy shook off her _serious_ statement and stuck with the last words. "Right, cause my flunking out would really affect your Stanford education," he pouted sarcastically.

Gabriella pushed his shoulder and waited for him to bounce back before lowering her own and catching him again with another bump.

"Are you gonna call Maria and have her come over? I'm sure Mom would love to hear her version of "My daughter is a Stanford student," Troy joked.

Gabriella smiled at him. "No, I'm still not one yet. I'm not enrolled. They've accepted me but I haven't accepted them."

"Stop it," Troy instructed.

"I know, you're right. Yeah, let me call my mom and see if she wants to come over." She leaned over and kissed Troy on the cheek.

"What was that for?" He stood up and tugged on the thighs of his pants just to loosen them around his legs.

"Because…I love you," Gabriella smiled at him and pulled her phone from her pocket to call Maria.

"I'm going to the bathroom, be right back," he informed her as she hit the speed dial and put the phone to her ear.

Gabriella sighed as Maria answered the phone. Troy's momentary absence would make it much easier for her to invite Maria to the Bolton's home for dinner – with an instruction to _not_ mention the early admissions offer. The Stanford acceptance was a topic she was beginning to grasp and appreciate. But the idea of leaving her new home and her first love prior to graduation, was something the young genius just couldn't comprehend.

**ParentalConsent-CollegeWoes-Part1**


	24. College Woes - Part 2

**College choices are nowhere near easy. Didn't we see that in the choices that Troy and Gabriella had to make in HSM3 - and haven't many of us lived through it ourselves? Thanks again to Dani for the thought, "How did the Bolton's react to Gabriella's Stanford acceptance?" Here's part two of what came to my mind. :)**

Of course, I own nothing of these wonderful characters or the HSM story other than numerous tubs of trinkets and a few autographs! But it sure is fun to wonder what else happened in the lives of Troyella!

**Thanks for reading. I hope you'll enjoy and please let me know what you think! BTW, SpeedOneandOnly... here ya go!**

* * *

**Parental Consent - College Woes - Part 2**

The dinner was a nice celebration and a wonderful opportunity for Gabriella to receive the praise that she deserved not only from her mother, but from Troy's parents as well. She was even amused and impressed at Coach Bolton's knowledge about Stanford.

The conversation with Troy's father was one she wouldn't forget. She'd never say that Jack Bolton wasn't a smart man, but Gabriella had mainly heard him talk about basketball, sports, and East High School happenings. Following this impromptu dinner she knew a more fatherly side of Troy's coach and paternal unit.

"_So will you be pursuing a pre-med program?" Jack wiped his mouth with his napkin and let his hands relax on the table, his head tilted as he looked at his son's girlfriend and waited for her answer._

"_No, Sir, I'm looking at pre-law. Stanford has a great pre-med program but I just don't think that's for me." She answered politely and precisely._

"_I'm sure that's something you've put a lot of thought into, although you would make a wonderful doctor. I guess from your science background I just assumed the medical field would be calling you." Jack smiled at her easily._

"_Thank you," Gabriella accepted Jack's compliment gracefully and noticed Troy listening into their conversation. "I did give it a lot of thought. But I'm just afraid that as a physician I wouldn't be able to help people the way I would really like to. So few doctors have to help so many patients…you know? I think I would probably be so focused on trying to handle just a few patients that, well, I don't know, does that make any sense at all?" She blushed a little._

"_No, it does make sense," Jack also noticed his son taking interest in their little chat while Lucille and Maria were having their own talk at the other end of the table. "You want to actually spend time and get to know your patients, but that's not a luxury that many doctors have because they're usually booked solid."_

_"Exactly," Gabriella agreed with a nod. "And, on top of that, if I did get to know them well enough, it would be hard if I couldn't help them."_

_Jack pressed his lips together and also nodded slowly. "And you think it will be different in legal matters?"_

_"In some aspects; I think so. I don't think I would be spread quite as thin, although I like the idea of working more in a community aspect. Not volunteer work, but maybe working with a social or non-profit organization to help meet legal needs."_

_Jack leaned against the back of his chair and rested his chin against his fingers as he took in what Gabriella was saying. "Sounds like you have a really good idea of what you'd like to do."_

_Gabriella's smile formed naturally along with the redness in her cheeks. "I think I do, yes. Making the ideas become a reality is the bump in the road."_

_Jack shook his head. "Sure, there are always bumps. But if you can stay focused on what you want to do and give yourself time to accomplish it; it's possible. It's what I attempt to tell Troy," he nodded his head toward the young man who was rolling his eyes. _

"_You aren't going to get there overnight. But set your goals and look for ways to reach those goals. You obviously set a goal to attend Stanford." Jack used his hand to indicate a high level above his head, "That's a darn-high goal to set but look, you're there. And I don't doubt that you can do anything you set out to do."_

_Gabriella watched Troy's father talk. She took in his animated responses and the encouraging words he had to say. She looked down at the table with the thought that they had come a long way in a short year. The warm feeling that ran through her reinforced Gabriella's feelings for Troy, and the family that supported him; mainly because she felt their support for her as well._

The families shared hugs, smiles and congratulations as Gabriella and Maria left the Bolton's home. But once in the car a quiet tension formed between them.

"I take it Troy didn't try to talk you out of going to Stanford?" Maria asked and slid a hand over to rub her knuckles against Gabriella's shoulder.

"Of course not," Gabriella mumbled a bit.

"Did you _want _him to?" Maria wondered.

Gabriella didn't want to answer her honestly. The silence was somewhat of an answer in itself.

"Briella, I don't understand your attitude here. What am I missing?" Maria put her hands back on the steering wheel and looked out the windshield.

Gabriella thought back to the promise she made to Troy. She would never forget his love. But, would she be able to remember it if they couldn't be together?

"I'm still trying to make sense of it myself, Mom," she muttered and turned to look out the passenger window.

No matter how brilliant Maria and Jack and Lucille and even Troy thought she might be, matters of the heart always went beyond Gabriella's comprehension. And now, just as she was beginning to get a handle on her feelings for Troy, they were apparently going to change again.

No, her attitude wasn't something she could make sense of; and that certainly wasn't helping the decisions she needed to make nor the near-future plans she needed to prepare.

"Do you want me to call Stanford on Monday or will you?" Maria's question only muddled Gabriella's already-unfocused thoughts as they pulled into their driveway.

"About what?" Gabriella looked at her mom before opening the car door.

"The early admissions invitation… Gabriella, whatever is clouding your thoughts right now, you need to try and push it aside for at least a little while. They're only going to accept thirty students. I highly doubt they've only _invited _thirty. They've probably offered it to a thousand incoming freshmen. You need to get your acceptance back to them first thing Monday morning."

Gabriella listened to her mother intently – as intently as she could with her mind floating to other subjects. She took a moment as Maria walked toward the door and tried to focus on what was said.

"My acceptance to the school isn't based on the early admissions invitation, though, Mom. I'm accepted to the school to start in the fall. I don't have to go in May." Her voice was a bit harsher than she intended, but the tone didn't upset Maria.

Instead as they walked into the door of their home Maria was finally getting a feeling for the web of distress that was growing in her daughter's mind.

"That's why you didn't want me to mention it tonight, wasn't it?"

Gabriella sat down at the kitchen table and stared at her hands that were practically molded together on the table.

"Did you tell Troy about that part of it, Mija?" Maria sat down across from her daughter and watched her dark eyes staring aimlessly at the tension in her knuckles.

Gabriella shook her head but didn't answer.

"Why not? Didn't you show him your letter?" Maria was still slightly confused.

Gabriella licked her lips and finally blinked as a few tears pricked her lower eyelid. "Just the envelope… I didn't offer to show him the actual letter. He just assumed what was in it and he guessed correctly – I'm in." She flashed her mother a quick-but-certainly-not-happy smile. "I didn't feel like getting into the part about not being here for graduation. I haven't decided – "

"Gabriella," Maria's voice raised nervously, "There is no deciding on this. You realize that, right? Honey, I want you to make decisions for yourself, of course. You've been an adult for far too many years already. But when opportunities fall into your lap there is no deciding. You have to take those opportunities. You need to call Stanford on Monday morning, first thing and tell them 'yes' for the early admissions. Or call right now and leave a message. I don't want to make this call for you, but I will if you don't," Maria threatened.

"You can't," Gabriella shot back in disbelief. "I'm not a first grader or even a ninth grader now, Mom. This is my future and education we're talking about."

"Yes," Maria interrupted, "And I don't want you to regret missing out on a chance to make the most of it." Her face was stern as her matching brown eyes held Gabriella's. "And," Maria added more quietly, "you know Troy would say the same thing if you told him."

In her teenage heart, Gabriella knew Maria was right. Her college decision was made. She would be attending Stanford. And, if she didn't at least call and attempt to make the early admissions program, she would regret it, somewhere down the road.

She fought back the thoughts of breaking this news to her Wildcat, the man she had fallen in love with. And, she decided, she couldn't do that until she knew for sure when the next step of her life would begin.

Gabriella's eyes shifted away from Maria's and looked toward the phone on the kitchen counter. She pulled the letter from her purse and slowly opened the folded page. After another deep breath she looked back at her mother's loving but tired face.

"I'll make the call," Gabriella declared. "Right now, I'll call."

**TGTGTG**

A few streets away a similar mood had settled into the Bolton household once their guests left. Troy helped his parents clear the dinner dishes and then without a full sentence of explanation he wandered to his bedroom down the hall.

"She's got an amazing opportunity, there," Jack spoke to his wife as they worked to rinse off dishes and put them into the dish washer.

"It really is," Lucille agreed and smiled at her husband. "She is a brilliant young woman, Jack. From what Maria, and Troy, have told me and the few chats I've had with her, Stanford has been a dream for a long time. And she's had enough foresight to make it become a reality. With all the moves and changing schools, it's amazing, but she's making it happen."

"And just how did our son get involved with her again? I mean, Troy's not a bad student at all, but I've gotta say, I don't know that I ever imagined him dating someone whose strong point is the _scholastic_ decathlon." Jack held up a plate in one hand and stretched his lips to indicate his bit of confusion.

"Let's just call it fate and leave it at that," Lucille suggested, knowing that wouldn't be a good enough answer for her husband.

"No, Luce, seriously," Jack countered. "A year ago Troy was focused on basketball. Well, toss a little bit of golf in there, too, but sports. Now he's added theater to his repertoire and is a favorite student of the _drama_ teacher apparently." Jack cringed slightly at the thought of his former nemesis, currently one of Troy's favorite instructors.

"Well, a year ago, the word _repertoire_ wasn't even in _your_ vocabulary, Sweetheart, so I think you've both come a long way," Lucille smiled and ran her thumb across Jack's cheek where a splash of water had landed.

"Ha. Ha," he accepted her verbal jab and went back to his job of washing the pots and pans.

"You know, Maria did mention to me that she's a little concerned about Gabriella and the Stanford move," Lucille leaned a hip against the counter after putting some plates in the machine.

"Why so?" Jack scrubbed on a particular spot and didn't look in his wife's direction.

"Well, she didn't give me a lot of details since we were all sitting right here. But, while you were talking with Gabriella and Troy, she mentioned that Gabriella wasn't nearly as excited to get her acceptance letter as Maria expected her to be." Lucille took a breath and moved to place a couple more dishes into the baskets.

"I'd bet she's just relieved to get the letter. It's been a waiting game that she's been playing for a long time, it sounds like. To finally have the reality in her hands probably lifted a big weight off her shoulders." Jack turned and watched his wife for a moment as she slid some forks into the bottom tier.

"You think?" Lucille creased her eyebrows, not expecting Jack's thoughtful response.

"Well, it's kinda like Troy getting the scholarship offer from U of A after his summer at Lava Springs. He – well, we, honestly – kind of expected it but to actually have the offer in hand, it's a relief." Jack shrugged his shoulders quickly.

Lucille stopped for a moment and crossed her arms over her abdomen. Jack looked at her eyebrows which appeared to be curious about something else.

"What?" He urged her to speak her mind.

"Speaking of the U of A scholarship… I haven't heard him say any more about that in the last couple of weeks. The letter came in and he was pumped, but then he just put it in his college binder and he hasn't said much more about it. Has he talked to you? He hasn't already called and accepted, has he? That's not something he would keep from me or us, is it?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Last I heard from him he said he wanted to get through the basketball tournament and then would follow-up on things. You know him, Luce. One thing at a time. The future will happen. But like I was saying about Gabriella, having that letter in hand probably just gives them a little peace of mind that they are on track. Let's them worry about all the other senior year headaches that they've got."

Jack took in a long breath through his nose and then used his fingers to spritz his wife with some water.

"Stop that!" Lucille wiped the droplets off her nose and gave her husband an annoyed look. She waved her hand in front of her face as he laughed and attempted to splash her again.

"He's had a couple of letters from other schools, you know." Lucille informed him, still not smiling at his playful antics.

"Doesn't surprise me. Several schools have called me about him," Jack nodded and went back to the dish washing.

"Really? Why haven't you told me?" Lucille stepped toward him and leaned against the sink.

"You know scouts have been coming to the games since the championship last year, Luce. He played on the all-state team and been to the U of A camp. Word's gotten around that our boy is pretty good." Jack smiled a little shyly, speaking as Troy's father and coach.

"And he's still sticking with U of A?" Lucille's surprised tone surprised Jack slightly.

"It's what he's been talking about since he started playing and we went to the Red Hawk games, Luce. He's got a lot of options, I'm guessing, but I haven't heard him talk about any other school seriously."

Jack finished rinsing the pan and flicked the bubbles off his hands. Lucille grabbed a dish towel and dried the container before closing the dishwasher and setting it to run overnight. She nodded at Jack in understanding but a few other thoughts went through her head.

They turned out the kitchen lights and started to head toward their bedroom. "I'm just gonna say goodnight to Troy," Lucille stepped backwards toward their son's bedroom. "I'll be up in just a minute."

"Okay," Jack answered and stole a quick kiss from her as he headed up the stairs without a second thought.

**TGTGTG**

Lucille peeked through the open door in Troy's room and noticed the college binder that she had referenced earlier. It was open on Troy's bed with various brochures and a couple of letters hanging out of the flimsy pockets. Troy was across the room at his desk, shoulders slumped forward as he gazed at the bright computer screen.

"You'll ruin your eyes sitting that close," Lucille tapped a knuckle on his door and then pushed it open a little farther to step inside.

Troy jerked back slightly, "What? Oh, I didn't realize I had leaned forward. Do you need me to help with something?" He wondered, barely taking his eyes off the screen.

"Nope, all done," Lucille breathed out quietly. "I just realized, I hadn't had a chance to talk to you," she started with just a hesitant voice.

"'Bout what?" Troy wondered and glanced her way.

"Gabriella," Lucille determined she had no real clue what she wanted to ask her son, "Stanford…wow," she smiled in her son's direction and walked on into the room to sit down on his bed.

Troy clicked on something on the screen and then turned his chair around to face his mom. "Yeah, it's pretty huge,"

"Is she excited?" Lucille opted to keep her questions simple for the moment.

Troy leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs out in front of him; weaving his fingers together he let his hands rest on his head. "I guess so," he twisted his shoulders just a little.

"She's an exceptional young lady!" Lucille smiled a bit of a sideways grin. Troy nodded but held only a hint of a smile.

"Yeah," he answered without a lot of feeling. "She's going to be at the top of the class, I'm sure."

"Does that bother you?" Lucille noted her son's tone.

"No," Troy shook his head, "No." He stated more firmly the second time. "She's an A-plus student. She knows what she wants and is going after it. I give her credit for that. Academically she is all over it."

"Unlike…" Lucille tried to press.

"Unlike…I don't know…unlike someone who has no clue what they want to do with their future, I guess." Troy took his hands off his head and stood up from his chair walking over to the French doors of his room that overlooked the back yard.

"Are you including yourself in that group?" Troy's mother watched him lean against the wall and move the curtains to look outside.

Troy paused a moment, thinking before answering his mom. "Not exactly," his response was still short and didn't provide any real meaning.

Lucille sat quietly on the bed for another moment before changing the subject slightly. "California is a long way from here," she glanced at Troy's computer and noticed the Google map that was open on the screen.

"Yep," again with Troy's short answers; which told his mother that she was hitting a sore spot, but one that was certainly on his mind.

"Gabriella has a lot to think about over the next couple of months, as do you." Lucille made the statement rhetorically but noted Troy's slight roll of his eyes. She didn't chastise him but watched as he looked back out the window and crossed his arms.

Her son had a lot on his mind and Lucille suspected most of it, at this moment, had nothing to do with the upcoming basketball tournaments.

As she stood to leave the room Troy gave her just a little more insight into his concerns. "There's something she isn't telling me." He stated as he looked toward the sliver of a moon that was in the night sky.

"How do you know?" Lucille stopped at the bedroom door and held onto the edge of it as she listened for Troy's answer.

Troy shrugged and didn't look her way. "Isn't that just something you can tell when you love someone?"

Lucille sucked in a quick, deep breath at his words but decided against a strong reaction. "Yes," she turned the tables on him with her own short agreement.

"She's nervous, I get that part," Troy continued and glanced toward his mother. He noted that she was staring toward him but obviously not directly at him. "But, it's almost like she doesn't want to go, now, for some reason."

Lucille looked back at Troy's profile and focused on his jaw where she could tell he was gritting his teeth. "Did you ask her about it?"

"I didn't have a chance to," he turned his head to face his mother and met her eyes. "But I will. This is an opportunity she can't pass up. And if I have to do something to make this easier on her, I will." He nodded with intent.

Lucille pressed her lips together and watched her son in deep thought. "You're not talking about breaking up with her, are you?" She wondered out loud, obviously a bit worried.

"No," Troy shook his head quickly. "I can't do that. But I think there are several other options…" he let his sentence trail off as he realized again that he was talking to his mother. "For tonight, though, I think I just need to let this sink in a little bit." He forced a smile as he stepped toward his mother and allowed her to give him a hug.

"Don't do anything rash, please?" Lucille requested.

"Who, me?" Troy chuckled beside her ear. "Of course not," he continued. "I'll put a lot of thought into whatever I do, I promise."

"Mmm-hmmm," his mother's disbelief wasn't unusual.

"Hey, your son's dating a Stanford University student…well a soon-to-be Stanford student. Surely some of her brilliance has rubbed off on me, right?"

Lucille pulled back enough to look at her son and roll her eyes.

"Goodnight, Troy," she replied sarcastically.

Troy laughed lightly at his mom. "Goodnight, Mama."

The teen closed the door behind his mom and looked again toward the computer. Stanford University was over a thousand miles away from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He glanced at his bed where various college brochures were laying. Then he glanced back outside toward the moon.

"I don't know what's going through that intelligent mind of yours Gabriella Montez, but I intend to find out, tonight."

**ParentalConsent-CollegeWoes-Part2**


	25. College Woes - Part 3

**And here's part 3 of the Troyella college woes! Now, in this one I address a couple of thoughts that crossed my mind - and again, thank you Dani for the chapter(s) idea! 1) What really happened to Troy's leg - why'd he have to wear a brace in the big game in HSM3? We all assume it was a basketball injury...don't we? But was it? and 2)More reasons why Gabriella didn't tell him about the early admissions opportunity when she first learned about it. :)**

**I own nothing of these wonderful characters or the storylines of HSM, other than numerous tubs of trinkets and memories that just won't fade! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think! KTZLF! -adc**

* * *

**Parental Consent - College Woes - Part 3**

The light on her phone caught her attention along with the digital block sound. She could ignore the incoming text but she had a feeling it would be followed by another, and likely a phone call, if she didn't respond.

At 9:30 on a Friday evening she wasn't out with Troy or her friends, she was in her room staring at a sheet of paper that basically held the next four years of her life – if not more. She had held in her tears for hours, since she opened the letter with her mother that afternoon.

That was why, after making the call to Stanford and leaving the message in the appropriate voice mail, she excused herself to her room, closed the door, locked it and lay down on her bed to let the tears flow.

Excited? Ecstatic? Over the moon? Yes, yes she was – on one level. But, over the past year there was a new, completely different level of her life that had formed and taken hold of her heart. That's where her sadness came in.

For the first time in her life, since before her father's death, Gabriella felt at home in a town, at a school, with real friends and with a boyfriend who cared for her deeply. After a lifetime of dreaming of Stanford and what that level of education would mean for her, the young genius was suddenly struck with the fact that she wasn't ready to go to college. She wanted more time as the teenager she truly was. Suddenly Stanford was on the horizon and all she wanted to do was backpedal to New Years Eve of the previous year and relive the moment that she'd met Troy – over and over again.

Each time she thought of his encouragement, his touch, his smile, his eyes and being held in his arms, more tears escaped. How on earth was she supposed to give that up? She had just discovered him!

Gabriella looked back at the sheet from Stanford. Early admissions…May… What were the chances that perhaps she wouldn't make it into the program? That was a possibility, right? She had called; left the message. But there was no guarantee that she was one of the first thirty to respond, or that she was one of the _top_ thirty to respond. She took a deep, wavering breath. Her mind was at least made on one front after that bit of mental revelation.

Troy wouldn't know anything about the early admissions until she knew something for sure. She would swear Maria to secrecy. The same would go for Taylor. She would have to show her best girlfriend the letter from Stanford. Taylor always wanted the full, visual proof which meant she would see the entire note about Gabriella's acceptance, _and_ the early admission opportunity.

Following that, if Troy heard one word about that program, someone's head would roll, courtesy of one mild-mannered class valedictorian.

The light continued to blink at Gabriella so she wiped her eyes and sat up on the bed. The words on the screen only surprised her a little, even though she had hoped and suspected she would see them tonight.

"_Unlock the balcony door." _

'_Well, that's quite forward,_' she thought. Usually Troy's 'let me in' messages from the back yard went something to the effect of _"Beam me up…" _or _"I see you…"_ But, considering his mind might just be on the same slightly deflated wavelength as hers tonight, she figured she would excuse his blunt order.

She wandered, with a sigh, over to her doors and looked out at the moon before flipping the latch that kept her safe from the outside world. She had a momentary flashback to the first time she had spotted Troy on that balcony. He had serenaded her after climbing up the trellis and worked his way right on into her heart.

That, she suspected, was the night she had fallen in love with him, although the words hadn't been shared truthfully until much later. That's why their summer squabble had hurt so much and the 'making up' from that squabble had been so meaningful. Who knew old, beat-up, pickup trucks could have such comfortable seats…

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, the warmth throughout her body, and had to steady herself on the foot-board of her bed as she remembered kissing Troy as thoroughly as she possibly could in that truck, and the groans he had released while trying to be as gentlemanly as possible. Her eyes blurred slightly. _'Speaking of being forward…' G_abriella took another deep breath and blinked her eyes. She knew they had a long way to go before going _all the way_ but, man, had she enjoyed kissing him senseless – and that slight bit of power that came along with knowing that she could!

She glanced up to see the college letter still sitting on her comforter and jumped slightly to retrieve it and put it away before Troy climbed over the railing. Their relationship wasn't one she would give up easily, but with a thousand miles between them she would have to learn to miss his kisses … or somehow kiss them goodbye, altogether.

Her momentary good mood soured. She didn't want to think about giving him up right now. She also didn't, really, want to imagine what Troy was going to say; coming over after their dual-family dinner; sneaking in to avoid Maria; and considering the subject matter on both of their minds. But, she pressed her lips together and sat down on the bed to wait for him.

Whatever he said, it would be worth it just to see him again.

Then, instead of the normal thump of her boyfriend jumping over the rail, the next sound to hit Gabriella's ears was a painful shriek in a low voice that sounded a lot like Troy. She immediately jumped off the bed and opened the doors only to be met with groans – similar but different to those she had recalled in her mind just minutes before.

"Troy?" She attempted to yell in a whisper.

"Son of a –" She heard his voice and the noisy breath that followed it.

Gabriella quickly went to the rail and looked over, only to see him lying on the ground gripping his leg which was slightly twisted under him.

"Oh no! Troy, are you okay?" She debated whether or not she should try to climb down the tree to get to him more quickly.

"Crap, it hurts," he winced in pain and didn't even look up at her.

"Don't move, I'll be right down," Gabriella insisted.

"Not going anywhere…" Troy held his breath and spoke through gritted teeth.

Gabriella wasn't surprised to meet her mother in the living room as she practically jumped down the stairs.

"Did you hear that?" Maria's eyes were wide and slightly fearful.

Gabriella nodded but the look in her eyes wasn't a frightened type of fear. Maria turned her head slowly, looking toward the kitchen and wishing she had x-ray vision to see what on earth was happening in their back yard.

Her daughter didn't hesitate to go on into the other room and head toward the back door.

"Gabriella! What are you doing? Don't go out there! I'm calling 9-1-1." Maria exclaimed.

"No!" Gabriella stepped back and shook her head at her mom. "Don't call them yet, please. It…it's Troy. He...he fell out of the tree."

"He – he what?!" Maria's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is he okay?" Her mothering air took over instead of the bit of anger that initially hit her senses.

"I don't know," Gabriella filled her cheeks with air and blew it out slowly. "I've gotta check on him. I think he hurt his leg."

"Go," Maria motioned her head in the direction of the back door. "I'll be there in a moment." She looked down at her nightgown and shook her head. "I knew I should've cut that tree down after his first climbing caper," she pouted slightly and went to pull a robe from her room.

Gabriella hurried through the door to the base of the tree where Troy was simply breathing in and out slowly. She knelt beside his shoulder blinking her dark eyelashes with worry.

Troy could see her brown eyes glistening as she looked down at him. He couldn't help but smile in between breaths but then pressed his lips together and swallowed. "I lost my footing on the limb as I was trying to climb over the rail. I landed on my feet, but I wrenched my knee when I hit the ground and then it twisted as I fell," he explained.

Gabriella shook her head. "Are you okay, Wildcat?"

"Give me a minute," Troy closed his eyes and tried to relax his muscles.

"Gabriella?" Maria's voice appeared at the back door. "Is Troy okay?"

"I'm toast," Troy muttered.

"Shhh," Gabriella instructed. "Can you sit up?" she gently slid her hand behind his shoulders and pushed as he used his abdominals to pull him into a sitting position.

Maria came over and crouched down on Troy's opposite side. "Troy Bolton, what are you doing here at this time of night? What on earth happened?" She scolded with the gentlest of tones.

"I wasn't done talking to Gabriella," Troy explained softly. "Dinner and everything was great, but… I just wasn't done talking to her." He propped himself up using his hands behind his waist. He tried to scoot himself back but grimaced profusely when he tried to use his injured leg. "Not good…" he held his breath again.

Maria looked up at the tree, the balcony, and then at her worried daughter. "Troy can you stand up? Do we need to call an ambulance or can we at least get you into the house? It's chilly out here. A midnight picnic isn't a great idea."

Troy chuckled. "I _could_ use a brownie. I'm sure that would help." He smiled his boyish grin at Gabriella's mother and fully accepted her raised eyebrows, head tilt and unamused eyes looking back at him.

"Do you think anything is broken?" Gabriella asked as she touched his face gently and then slid her hand down his arm squeezing lightly on his bicep.

"I don't think so." He looked at her and met her eyes, matching her bit of worry. "But my knee… I think I've got problems there." He tried to bend the joint and nearly cried out in pain at the movement.

"Okay," Maria pointed at them. "Just hold still. Let me see if I've got a board or anything in the garage that we can use to stabilize your leg so we can at least get you inside. Then we'll decide what we need to do next – starting with calling your mom and dad."

At that thought Troy's head fell backwards, "Oh no…" he closed his eyes, "No, no, no," he said quickly and then raised his head and looked toward Maria. "Dad's gonna kill me."

Maria crossed her arms over her chest and again gave him the motherly look of concern and yet warning. "Out after curfew, Mister?"

Troy shook his head and gave her a woeful smile, "Even worse… Injured leg before the basketball tournament. Just go ahead and shoot me now." He hung his head in defeat as Gabriella did her best to wrap her arms around his neck to try and console him.

Maria shook her head. She truly did feel sorry for Troy. And she truly hated to call Jack and Lucille at this hour. But considering their athletic, yet in love and trespassing son probably needed x-rays, she didn't see any way around the issue.

By the time she returned with a piece of wood and a couple of Ace bandages, Troy and Gabriella had managed to get him on his feet – at least one of them. Troy was leaning against the tree, both of them looking up longingly at the balcony.

Maria handed her daughter the small plank and helped Troy steady himself as they attempted to create a makeshift brace that would help them get him into the house. With a hefty effort from all three of them, Troy found himself on the Montez couch, head in Gabriella's lap, watching Maria pick up the phone.

"Jack? Hi, I'm sorry to call so late. It's Maria Montez," she began. The kids strained to try and hear the other side of the conversation but knew they'd be out of luck until Jack and Lucille showed up at this location.

"Well, no, Gabriella's fine, I'm fine. Troy, on the other hand…" she took a deep breath and glanced back to see Troy putting his hand over his eyes and shaking his head. "He's taken a fall over here; twisted his knee. I wouldn't call, but I think it's somewhat serious. He can't put weight on it. I didn't even check for swelling, but I'm guessing he needs some x-rays at the least."

She listened for a moment as Jack relayed the information to Lucille. Maria leaned against the small table and watched as Gabriella ran her fingers through Troy's hair and whispered to him that everything would be fine. Troy continued to shake his head slowly back and forth. Maria felt for him, even though she, too, wanted to punish him in a way, she knew his intentions were good but his plan of attack apparently needed a little more thought.

"What? What's he doing here at this hour?" She reacted again to Jack's voice and looked at the kids on the couch. "Well, I'm not completely sure. Can we talk about that when you get here? He's on the couch, resting somewhat comfortably, all things considered, I suppose, so take your time. We're not going anywhere." She smiled as she glanced back at Gabriella who pouted her lip and then bent down to place a kiss on Troy's forehead.

"Hope this isn't a glimpse into the future," Troy whispered out loud as Maria hung up the phone and headed toward the kitchen to get a bag of ice for him.

"What d'ya mean?" Gabriella asked as she continued to run her fingers over his forehead and cheeks.

"You're not going pre-med because you're worried about taking care of patients and getting too close to them?" He asked.

"Yeah?" Gabriella looked down into his eyes.

"Well, I was hoping I'd get to be _one_ of your patients one day…_after_ we get to know each other even better…way better," he added and somehow managed to wink at her.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at him. "Well, then this may be a true test for us, Wildcat. Cause if you're a bad patient now, I may not even play _nurse_ with you down the road."

Troy's eyes widened along with his grin as her words sunk in. He watched her neck and face turn red as she stared down at him, knowing that her words held a much deeper meaning than the playful tone that spoke them.

**TGTGTG**

Troy stayed still, ice on top of his pants, shoe off and head remaining in his girlfriend's lap until the knock sounded on the Montez's front door. He began to strain to sit up, hoping he would look less guilty without the somewhat intimate connection to Gabriella.

There had been a discussion, when Maria returned with the ice pack, about actually getting a look at his injured leg. Troy's face had turned blood red when he looked at Gabriella's mother and told her that he would have to remove his somewhat tight, straight-legged jeans in order for that to happen.

Maria had shrugged her shoulders. "I think we've both seen more than you want to admit," she watched Gabriella's eyes widen and her cheeks absolutely flush in a split second at her mother's implication.

Troy couldn't deny what she was saying. But, he wasn't quite ready to share his boxer briefs with Gabriella in the presence of her mother. "Can we just try putting the ice over my jeans? That'll give me a little cushion against the cold," he suggested.

Maria looked at him skeptically but went along with his wishes. The next few minutes were filled with silence, while Maria went to change clothes. Troy closed his eyes, he and Gabriella both trying to mentally prepare themselves for the onslaught of questions that would begin as soon as Troy's parents arrived.

Troy gave a painful groan as he pulled his leg backwards, trying to sit up when Maria opened the door. Gabriella gripped his arm and told him to stay still, thinking of his comfort more than facing the coach and Lucille.

"What the –" Jack looked at his son on the couch, quickly moving past Maria and eying his son's outstretched leg.

Lucille offered Maria a quick, "Hi again, thanks for calling," before hurrying to play mediator between her two family members.

"Troy, Honey, what happened?" She placed a firm hand on Jack's arm and pulled him backwards slightly. She could feel the tension in his muscle but wasn't sure if it was worry or anger.

Troy looked between his mother and father with a defeated appearance. "I needed to talk to Gabriella." His eyes focused on Lucille, needing her to recall their earlier discussion. "I've climbed the tree a hundred times – well, a bunch, at least," he stopped to retract the numerical portion of his statement.

Gabriella rubbed his back and offered pleading eyes to Troy's mother. "I know, I should've just come to the front door. I know that. But I was just going to talk for a little while and then come right back home, I swear."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't need the sob story, Son. For now just tell me what's hurt."

Troy met his dad's eyes. "My knee," he admitted like a scared little boy. "When I hit the ground it twisted under me. I can't put any weight on it, Dad. It's messed up."

Gabriella felt Troy's muscles tighten under her fingertips. She hesitated for just a second before putting her chin on Troy's shoulder to offer her silent support.

"Alright," Jack breathed out. "Let's get you to the car and we'll go get some x-rays."

"Dad?" Troy spoke quickly and with obvious remorse.

"What?" Jack responded while trying to figure out how exactly to maneuver his practically grown son.

"I'm sorry," Troy mumbled.

Lucille, Gabriella and Maria all felt the pain from his words and hoped Jack would accept Troy's apology.

"I know," Jack looked at his son without a smile but let out another breath to mark his attitude change.

"Let's see if we can get you to the car. Hopefully it's not too serious and we can get you up and going again," Jack offered Troy his arm while Maria, Gabriella and Lucille worked to help him actually stand from the couch.

Between the nine good legs they were able to get Troy to Jack and Lucille's car and slid him uncomfortably into the back seat. Gabriella looked at him sadly as he grimaced and moved to try and get situated.

"Can I –" Gabriella began to request permission to go with them before seeing Maria's glare.

"You're staying here, Young Lady," Maria's voice instructed. "I'm sure Luce and Jack can call us in the morning to let us know how he's doing."

"Absolutely," Lucille agreed. Jack closed the door on the back seat and climbed into the driver's side.

"Let's get going. This is gonna be a long night as it is," he glanced toward his wife and then at Gabriella and Maria. "Thank you," Jack nodded at Maria and then focused on the younger woman. "He'll be fine. Don't worry,"

Gabriella nodded but all of them could see the tears in her eyes. She looked directly at Troy through the window. "_I love you,"_ she mouthed the words.

"It's all good," Troy nodded back at her. "I love you, too." He spoke the words out loud, letting the adults react however they chose.

The mothers present just smiled at each other politely. Jack rolled his eyes and then smiled toward all three of the women. "We'll keep that in mind," Troy's father's unrequested response was actually better than what all of them had expected.

**TGTGTG**

It was around 2AM when Gabriella heard her phone buzz. She had kept it on her pillow knowing that Troy would get in touch with her as soon as he could. The text was simple, _"Sprained knee, pulled tendon. __ Coulda been worse. Crutches and brace for 4-6 weeks."_

Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief. _"I'm so sorry!"_ she typed back. _"What can I do to help?" _

"_Come over as soon as you wake up in the morning? Dad won't let me outta the house and I'm supposed to stay off the leg for a day or two."_

Gabriella pouted. _"If Mom will let me come over I'll be there. What about basketball?"_

Troy looked into the front seat where his mom and dad were quiet and just happy to be on their way home. _"One thing at a time. I have to survive the followup lecture from Dad about why I was climbing the tree to begin with. __"_

"_Speaking of that…"_ Gabriella sent the simple line knowing Troy would know her question.

"_I missed you. ;)" _Troy typed back, his pain medicine kicking in.

"_Sweet Talker."_

"_I'm finally getting sleepy. Please come over tomorrow?"_ Troy's eyelids felt heavy as he made his last plea.

"_Hopefully,"_ Gabriella responded. _"Get some rest. I love you, Wildcat."_

_"LY2," _Troy answered and then leaned his head against the back seat of the car.

"Is Gabriella actually awake at this hour?" Jack glanced over at his wife, whose eyes were closed and head was resting against the passenger window. He then looked back at his son to get an answer.

"I didn't mean to wake her up but she must've had her phone close to her." Troy kept his eyes closed as he spoke to his Dad.

"Troy, what was so important that you felt the need to go over there and climb up the tree, Son?" Jack took the chance to finally ask his burning question.

Troy shook his head without opening his eyes. "I don't even remember right now," Troy lied.

"Mmm-hmm," Jack glanced into the rearview mirror. "First their trellis and then the tree…Maria is a very understanding woman, Troy."

"Yes, I know." Troy moved his head and blinked his eyes open to look at his dad in the mirror.

"She could've had you arrested for trespassing at any point. Do you realize that?" Jack continued.

"Yep," Troy nodded his head slowly.

"What were you thinking, Troy?" Jack pressed.

Before Troy could come up with any excuse, Lucille adjusted her position in the passenger seat. "Maria is not going to call the police on Troy. If she wanted to deter him she would've cut down that tree last year after their first run-in. After this, I'd say she's more likely to give him a key to the front door. Now, both of you, hush. I'm trying to sleep."

**ParentalConsent-CollegeWoes-Part3**


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